


Together is My Favorite Place to Be

by yourfrendlyneighborhoodfangirl



Category: Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Avengers Family, Canon Compliant, Clint is the Cool Uncle, Domestic Avengers, Gen, Help, How Do I Tag, I don't know what I'm doing, Irondad, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Protective Natasha Romanov, Protective Steve Rogers, Protective Tony Stark, Sort Of, Steve is a dad, Tony is a dad, clint is the only one who knows how to manage a child, for now, nat is a mom
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-12
Updated: 2021-02-06
Packaged: 2021-03-06 22:48:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 16
Words: 20,908
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26426635
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yourfrendlyneighborhoodfangirl/pseuds/yourfrendlyneighborhoodfangirl
Summary: Alina Winchester is a 6-year old whose parents were killed in the Battle of New York. With no other family, the Avengers have no choice but to bring her to live at Avengers Tower. As Alina grows up, her family is pushed to its limits and tested over and over again. Through battles and hardships, can Alina keep her family together?
Relationships: Avengers Team & Original Female Character(s), Natasha Romanov & Avengers Team, Natasha Romanov (Marvel)/Original Female Character(s), Pepper Potts & Tony Stark, Pepper Potts/Tony Stark, Peter Parker & Original Female Character(s), Steve Rogers & Avengers Team, Steve Rogers & Original Female Character(s), Tony Stark & Avengers Team, Tony Stark & Original Female Character(s), Wanda Maximoff & Original Female Character(s)
Comments: 49
Kudos: 67





	1. Found: Steve

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! This is my first fic, so please be patient as I figure out how to work Ao3. I'm so excited to share this with you, as this story has been in my head a long time. Just a note, Alina was born in 2005. I'm trying to make this compliant with canon and the timeline. If I got anything wrong, please tell me!

“Mommy?” A small voice called. Two large, brown eyes peeked out from behind a pile of rubble.

  
Steve Rogers was exhausted after the battle, and so it took him a second to register the sound. When he realized what he had heard, he quickly spun around and saw the small child. As soon as he locked eyes with the girl, she quickly darted out of sight.

  
“Wait!” He called, aware that the other Avengers had also paused and were staring at him. “I’m not going to hurt you, I promise.”

  
The little girl cautiously peeked out again. Her curly brown hair and caramel colored skin were covered in dust and dirt, except for two lines down her face where the grime had been washed away by tears. She didn’t look hurt, but Steve could only see her face.

  
Slowly, he approached the child. “I’m Steve. What’s your name?”

  
Not taking her eyes off of him, the little girl took a small step toward him. “I’m not supposed to tell my name to strangers,” she said solemnly.

  
“That’s a good idea. You must be pretty smart,” he said, and the girl blushed. “But if you tell me your name, I can help you find your mommy.”

  
“Alina,” she said, and tears started to well up in her eyes. “My name’s Alina Winchester. And I can’t find my mommy and daddy!” She cried.

  
“What are your mommy and daddy’s names?” Steve asked gently.

  
“My mommy is Ellen and my daddy is Michael,” she told him. “Can you find them?”

  
Steve turned to Tony, who had gathered behind him along with the rest of the team. “Can you find-”

  
“Already on it,” he said. “Ok, Michael and Ellen Winchester, age 31 and 32, both engineers from New York City. One child, Alina Winchester, age 6. No other family members. They have not been reported missing or dead yet.”

  
“De-dead?” Alina asked, lower lip trembling. Steve and Tony shared a helpless glance; neither knew how to comfort a child.

  
Luckily, someone on their team did. Clint kneeled down in front of the girl. “Hey, hey, it’s ok,” he said as tears ran down her face. “We’ll find your mommy and daddy. I’m Clint. I like your pretty dress.” Alina was wearing a purple dress with pink hearts on it, with matching pink leggings.

  
She sniffled. “Thanks.” She gave her skirt a half-hearted twirl and glanced at him. “You’re just wearing black.”

  
“Hey, black is a good color,” He protested.

  
“No. Pink is,” she replied seriously.

  
The rest of the team had been watching this exchange with disbelief. Who knew Clint was so good with kids? Finally, Steve snapped out of it. “What are we going to do with her?” He asked the other superheroes quietly.

  
Tony shrugged. “Take her back to the tower with us? I can have Jarvis try to locate her parents.” He didn’t say “If they’re even alive”, but he didn’t have to. They were all thinking it.

  
“How are we going to entertain a kid?” Natasha asked. None of them had an answer.

  
“Well, Alina,” Steve said, turning back to the little girl. Clint was making faces at her and she was giggling quietly. “Would you like to come stay with us while we find your parents?” He asked.

  
She looked at Clint. “Ok,” she said slowly. “But I don’t have all my clothes.”

  
Steve looked at Tony. “I can fly by her house and grab some of her things,” he offered.

  
Natasha, Bruce, and Thor all looked as lost as Steve felt. How the heck were they going to take care of a child?

  
Just then Alina shrieked with laughter as Clint swung her onto his shoulders. Maybe it won’t be so hard, Steve thought. At least one of us knows what we’re doing.


	2. World Torn Apart: Steve

“Do you have LEGOs?” Alina asked. 

“No, sorry,” Steve said, glancing around the tower for something to occupy a child. Nat and Clint were at S.H.I.E.L.D., Bruce was off in his lab, and Tony and Thor were...somewhere. They had stuck around to feed Alina, only to take off and leave Steve to babysit. 

The little girl sat on the couch in the tower’s lounge. Steve had asked JARVIS to play a children’s show on the TV, and so they were currently watching some show that seemed to be about a group of small mermaid children who liked to count and sing songs. After the third song Steve was wondering why anyone would watch this show, and it seemed Alina was too.

“How many fish are there?” asked a mermaid with pink hair and a huge smile. “Count with me! One, two…”

“Five,” Alina said, looking bored. “There are five fish, are you stupid?” Steve looked at her, wondering if he should scold her. You weren’t supposed to let kids say things like that, right?”

“Great job!” A new mermaid, this one with blue hair, was now counting fish. “How many now?” 

“SEVEN FISH!” Alina shrieked, making Steve jump. She turned to him. “I don’t like this show. It’s for babies.”

Privately, Steve agreed. “Ok. Is there a show you do like?”

“I wanna play LEGOs!” She said, staring him in the eyes. She seemed to be daring him to say no. 

“We don’t have LEGOs…” Steve said. The six year old stuck her tongue out at him and turned back to the TV. 

“I wanna watch  _ The Princess and the Frog _ ,” she whined. 

Steve sighed. Were all little kids like this? He didn’t have any little siblings and never babysat, so he didn’t know. “JARVIS, play  _ The Princess and the Frog _ .”

The movie started and Alina smiled. Steve relaxed, thinking she was finally happy, but not even two minutes later she was bouncing on the couch. 

“I love this part! I love this part!” She giggled, looking at Steve. “Look look look look! Look, S… st…” She turned to him. “What’s your name?”

“Steve.”

“Do you have a job?”

“Um… yes. I… save people. Like the police, sort of. I fight crime.”

“You’re a superhero?”

Steve paused. “Yeah, you could say that.”

Alina stopped bouncing and stared at him. “Superheroes aren’t real.”

“Well, I’m real. I’m right here with you.”

She gave him a dubious look. “Can you fly?”

“Well, no.”

“Then you’re not a superhero.” She nodded, like that concluded things, and turned back to the movie.

Just then, Tony entered the room. “Alright, Cap, I have to talk to you.”

Steve looked away from the movie and up at Tony, grateful that there was another adult in the room. “What’s up?” he asked worriedly. Tony looked like he was bearing bad news, and combined with the fact that they had defeated an army of aliens not 3 hours ago, Steve was sure that what Tony was about to say was nothing good.

Tony glanced at Alina, who was very obviously listening to them. “Can we talk in the hall?”

So it was something that would distress the little girl. Very not good. Steve got up and followed Tony out of the room. Once they were outside and the door was firmly shut, he looked at Tony. “So?”

“Her parents were found dead 15 minutes ago,” Tony said bluntly.

“Oh.” Steve said. “Oh, no.”

“Yeah,” Tony said worriedly.

“How are we going to tell her? What are we going to  _ do  _ with her?” 

“I was hoping you’d have some answers, Capsicle. You’re the elder one.”

Steve gave Tony a hard look. “Wow, the great Tony Stark admitting he doesn’t know something? Um… ok. I guess we just… tell her?”

Tony sighed. “I don’t know. I know nothing about children.”

“Tell me about it.” The two men walked back into the room. Steve sat down on the couch next to Alina. She glanced at him and scooted away. Great. They were off to a great start.

“So, Alina,” Steve began. 

“Did you find my mommy and daddy?” She asked him. Her innocent eyes seemed to stare into his soul, making him feel guilty about the news he was bringing.

He glanced at Tony. “Well, yes.”

“Are they here?” She looked at the doorway, as if they were about to come into the room and yell ‘Surprise!’

“Well,” Steve looked at Tony for help.

Tony looked at Alina sadly. “Kid, I’m really sorry I have to tell you this, but they’re dead.”

“What?” Her gaze snapped from the movie onto their faces. She seemed to search their faces for some sign that they were joking. “No. You’re lying.” 

“Kid,” Tony said again. 

“Remember how I said we’re superheroes?” Steve asked her. “The bad guys got your mommy and daddy.”

By now, tears were streaming down Alina’s face. She looked like her whole world had been torn apart. Really, it had been. “If you’re superheroes,” she started, and her small face looked so anguished that Steve’s heart almost broke. “Why didn’t you save them?”

Tony and Steve exchanged looks, and Steve could see that Tony looked just as heartbroken as he felt. “Kid, I’m sorry,” Tony said, reaching over to lay a hand on Alina’s shoulder. She jumped back into the corner of the couch and curled into a fetal position so they couldn’t see her face. However, they could still perfectly hear her heart wrenching sobs.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a few notes:  
> Just in case you were wondering, the show Alina was watching is Bubble Guppies!  
> I'm sorry if this was out of character, I tried my best! Please leave me tips or recommendations if I need to change anything!  
> This is not a Stony fic. Steve and Tony may be closer in my universe, as they are sort of raising a child together, but they are not a couple and Civil War will still happen.  
> Also, I do read through these before I post but I don't thoroughly proofread, so I you find a mistake please tell me!


	3. Laughter is the Best Medicine: Steve/Natasha

Two hours later, Alina had not budged from her position. Steve and Tony had decided to leave her alone, and she had stopped crying, but they couldn’t get her to do anything. Finally, they decided that she needed to calm down on her own. Tony went to his office and Steve went to make dinner for the team.

Steve was boiling water for spaghetti when Natasha walked in. “I’m making spaghetti for dinner, if you want to stay,” he told her. 

She studied him, and Steve squirmed uncomfortably under her gaze. He could fight side by side with them just fine, but when it came to socializing with his new teammates, Steve felt a little uncomfortable. “I might,” she finally said. “Are you staying here for a while?” 

“Just for dinner,” he replied. “Then I’ll head back to S.H.I.E.L.D. I wouldn’t want to overstay Tony’s welcome,” he laughed uncomfortably.

“What about Alina?” she asked him, then frowned. “Speaking of her, where is she.”

“Er…” Steve avoided her gaze, though knowing that she was a spy she could probably read him anyway. “Her parents are dead. Tony and I told her and she kind of just… blocked us out? She just curled up into a ball and she’s been crying.”

“How long has she been like this?” The spy asked him.

“Two hours?” Steve said guiltily. He looked at Natasha’s face, but he couldn’t read her. 

“Two hours?” she asked. “Shouldn’t you go check on her?”

“She won’t talk to me or Tony,” he admitted. “Maybe you could go talk to her?”

“Me?” Natasha let surprise slip into her voice. “I’m not very good with kids.” Was it just him or did she look nervous? But that was silly, why would she be afraid of a little girl.

“Neither am I,” he admitted. “But maybe she would feel more comfortable around… well, around…” he trailed off uncertainly, not wanting to offend the assassin. 

“A woman,” she finished for him. Steve flinched, but she didn’t look offended. “Alright, I guess I’ll try.” She walked slowly into the living room; maybe a little more slowly than normal.

Natasha entered the room and saw the little girl curled up in the corner of the couch. Cautiously, as to not scare her, Natasha said “Alina?”

The girl twitched, but didn’t move any more than that. “Go away,” she said, her voice small and high. 

“Alina, I’m Natasha,” she said. She sat down hesitantly next to Alina on the couch.

“Go away! I don’t want to talk to anyone. I just want,” she let out a sob. “I just want my mommy!”

Gently, Natasha reached over and slowly uncurled the girl’s arms from around her legs. Her arms were shaking from holding herself so tightly for two hours. Her eyes were red and swollen and her whole face was splotchy and wet. Natasha awkwardly reached over and gently stroked Alina’s curls. To her surprise, the little girl threw her arms around Natasha and sobbed into her shirt.

“I’m sorry, извини маленький котенок,” Natasha murmured into Alina’s hair. 

The little girl pulled back and looked at her, sniffling softly. “Wha- what did you say?” she asked, her voice shaking from crying so much.

“I said ‘I’m sorry, little kitten’,” Natasha told her.

“What language did you say it in?” she asked curiously.

“Russian.”

“Do you live in Russia?”

“Not for a long time,” Natasha said, feeling a pang in her chest at the thought of her home country. Whether it was fear or nostalgia, she wasn’t sure.

Alina was silent for a moment, but she still clutched Natasha’s clothing tightly in her small fists. Then she said, “What’s going to happen to me?” She spoke so quietly that Natasha barely heard her. “Where am I going to go?”

A wave of sorrow washed over Natasha, for this little girl who had lost her family at such a small age. It brought back memories of her own past, which she fought to push back. And then she felt another emotion, which surprised her. She felt angry at Loki and his army of aliens, for stealing this child’s innocence. She wanted to track down the person responsible for causing pain to Alina and tear them apart piece by piece.

“Natasha?” Alina asked, and Natasha realized that her face had hardened. She quickly let her face soften.

“I don’t know, маленький котенок,” She told the girl honestly. 

“Can- could I stay with you?” Alina asked, looking up at her hopefully. Natasha felt her heart melt. 

“We’ll see,” she said. “But I would like that very much.” Alina gazed up at her, and she wasn’t quite smiling, but it was close. Then she threw her arms back around Natasha, and this time Natasha hugged her back.

“Hey, Nat,” Natasha heard a voice say and she turned to see him standing in the doorway. “Time for dinner.” He looked at her questioningly; he knew that she was nervous around children, and people in general. Natasha just shook her head at him, communicating that she was just as surprised as he was.

Alina let go of her and stood, up looking up at Clint. “Hey, I remember you!” she cried.

Clint smiled at her, a sad smile. “Glad to see you again, kiddo. You guys ready for dinner?”

Alina looked up at Nat, then took her hand. “We’re ready.” She looked so determined, like she was marching off to battle. It made Nat smile, but it also made her a little sad. 

They walked into the kitchen, where the rest of the team was sitting around the large dining room table. Steve was carrying in a huge pot of spaghetti from the kitchen. When he saw her holding Alina’s hand, he gave her a smug I-told-you-so look. Natasha stuck her tongue out at him and smiled. She was happy that the rest of the team felt like her friends, and she could joke around with them.

She sat down at the table between Alina and Clint. Tony was, of course, at the head of the table, and seemed to be in the middle of a (friendly) argument with Thor. Banner sat across from her, looking amused by the fight.

“I am a god, Stark,” Thor boomed. “I deserve the throne.”

“For the last time, Point Break, it’s not a throne. And I don’t care if you’re a god, it’s my house and I can sit where I want. Besides, first come, first serve.”

“I do not want to be served anything,” Thor frowned. Then he saw Steve with the spaghetti. “Except for that. What is this Earth food?”

“Only people who are sitting down get to eat,” Steve said, smiling. Thor glared at Tony and plopped down next to Bruce.

“It’s spaghetti,” Alina said, staring at Thor.

Thor seemed to notice Natasha and Alina for the first time. “Ah, it’s the little girl!” he said, grinning at Alina. She flinched at his loud voice, but didn’t look away from him.

“My name is Alina,” she said, still staring him down.

“Yes, yes. I am Thor, God of Thunder,” he replied.

“You’re not God,” she told him bluntly.

“I am not _the_ God, I am _a_ god,” he said, still grinning like the conversation entertained him.

“If you’re God, then do magic,” she said, glaring at him. 

Steve laughed. “Don’t take it personally, she already told me that I’m not a superhero.”

Tony looked intrigued. “What about me?”

Alina turned to look at him. “What’s your name?”

He grinned. “Tony Stark,” he said, waggling his eyebrows.

The little girl looked thoughtful. “I’ve heard of you. You’re a movie star, I think.”

Tony grinned even wider. “Here that, Mr. God of Thunder? I’m a movie star, and you’re not even a god.”

“Hold on now,” Thor protested. “I can prove that I’m a god.” He had a determined look on his face, and Clint and Nat exchanged a glance that said _Here we go_. Nat heard a faint rumbling noise in the distance, which grew louder and louder. Alina clapped her hands over her ears, looking scared. Thunder boomed and suddenly a huge bolt of lightning struck right outside the huge windows of the tower. Alina shrieked at the noise.

“Thor,” Natasha said, taking the little girl’s hand again. Suddenly the noises stopped. Thor looked at Alina and frowned.

“I’m sorry, young one, I did not mean to frighten you,” he said. 

“I wasn’t scared,” she shot back, and they all laughed. She glared at all the adults. 

“The food is getting cold,” Bruce pointed out. With that, they all went straight to eating. Everyone laughed and joked around, and there was a warm atmosphere in the room. Natasha watched Alina laugh at something Thor said and smiled, happy that the girl had seemed to have forgotten about her parents for a while.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Again, I hope this wasn't too out of character. I'm not used to writing when the team isn't super close yet... but it's fun to figure out how they all grow closer! I hope you enjoyed seeing Nat be all motherly :)
> 
> I used google translate and google in general for the Russian, so my deepest apologies because I probably messed it up. If anyone knows any Russian and would like to help me or point out my errors, it'd be a great help! 
> 
> Finally, I hope the chapters aren't too short. If I write them short I can post every day or every other day. I also know from experience that longer chapters can be intimidating and I've quit some good fics because the chapters were so long and I didn't have the attention span for it.
> 
> Thanks for reading!


	4. Don't Want to Let Her Go: Tony/Steve

“Mr. Stark, Miss. Winchester seems to be in distress,” JARVIS said. The billionaire groaned and sat up in bed, rubbing the sleep from his eyes.

“What? JARVIS, what time is it?” he asked, prepared to roll over and go back to sleep.

“It’s 6:14am,” JARVIS told him.

“6 am? Why’d you wake me? It’s too early JARVIS, never wake me this early again,” Tony grumbled.

“My apologies, sir. But you asked me to alert you in Miss. Winchester had any issues.”

Tony sat up again. “What? She’s having issues?” 

“Well, she seems to be crying,” JARVIS said. “I thought that would qualify as ‘issues’,” he added snarkily.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” Tony asked, hopping out of bed. “Where is she?”

“She’s in the bedroom you gave her,” the AI said, and if he’d had eyes he’d have been rolling them.

Tony climbed out of bed and started out the door, stopped, went back into the room and wrapped a robe around himself, then looked in the mirror. Satisfied, he hurriedly continued to the bedroom he had given Alina to sleep in the night before. 

When he got to the room, the door was shut. He knocked gently. “Kid?” he asked hesitantly.

He heard sniffling, and then a small voice said “Go away.”

Ignoring her, he opened the door. The room was furnished with expensive furniture, like every room in the tower. Comfortable, but bare, with only a plain dresser, desk, and a queen-sized bed that looked comically large with the tiny girl sitting in it. She was wearing a shirt of Natasha’s which, despite Natasha being the smallest on the team, was still way too big for her. It pooled around her like a dress. She was sitting in the middle of the bed, hugging her knees and crying.

Tony went and sat down next to her awkwardly, unsure how to comfort a crying child. “How did you sleep?” he asked stupidly.

Alina looked up at him with her watery brown eyes. “How do you think?” she asked, with way too much sass for a six year old.

However, Tony nodded. “That’s fair.”

“I miss my mom,” she said suddenly. “I just want my mom and dad back. I want to go home,” she cried, and buried her face in her arms.

“Hey,” Tony said. “I’m sorry.” He felt an unexpected pang in his chest. She was so young, much younger than he’d been when he’d lost his parents, and it had still destroyed him. He couldn’t imagine how awful it was for her. Well, he could start to imagine…

“My parents are dead too,” he said suddenly. He looked over at Alina, who hadn’t moved, but her crying had quieted down, so he assumed she was listening. “I was young, 17, too young, but I guess any age is too young to lose your parents. My dad and I… we didn’t get along.” His fist involuntarily clenched. “At all. He was kind of a di- a jerk. And he left behind this whole company that I was expected to run, and even though I had prepared for it, I wasn’t prepared for it to happen so soon.”

My mom though, she was the best. She taught me how to play piano, and we’d play together. She would whisper to me in Italian sometimes. And she always smelled the best, it was this sweet, good smell and I wish I could remember…” he trailed off, and realized he had tears in his eyes. Suddenly, he felt small arms wrap around him. He looked down to see Alina hugging him, also crying. They stayed like that for a while, just sitting there, lost in the memories of their parents. 

“Stark?” Tony jumped as Thor’s voice boomed from the hallway. 

“Damnit,” he swore, then looked guiltily down at Alina. She still had tears on her face, but she gave him a small smirk.

“Stark, where can I find the glorious beverage known as coffee?” Thor asked, emerging from the doorway.

Tony sighed. “Come on, I’ll show you. I can’t handle you without coffee anyway.” He looked down at the little girl in his arms. “Ready for breakfast?”

“Do you have pop tarts?” she asked suspiciously.

“Let’s go see,” he replied, taking her hand. It felt like the right thing to do, and she squeezed his fingers back. 

Tony led them to the kitchen, made himself and Thor coffee, and got Alina pop tarts. Then he sat down and watched the Asgardian and the little girl talk and laugh and eat way too many pop tarts.

“How could I never have known these existed?” Thor asked, eating his who-knows-what-number pop tart. “These pastries are delicious!” 

“They’re my favorite,” Alina agreed, eating her fifth. She was bouncing in her seat from all the sugar. Tony sighed, wondering what he’d gotten himself into.

When Steve, Nat, and Clint arrived at the tower 20 minutes later, they walked into the kitchen to find Thor giving Alina a piggyback ride and jogging around the room. They were both eating pop tarts. Tony was sitting at the kitchen island with his head in his hands.

“I need more coffee,” he said by way of greeting. “I can’t handle this. It’s only 7.”

“How many pop tarts have they had?” Steve asked jokingly. 

Tony gestured to the two empty boxes on the table. “I lost count after Thor had his twelfth.” 

They all sat and watched Thor and Alina play for a while, happy that the little girl was happy for the time being.

“What’s going to happen to her?” Steve asked, breaking the silence. Everyone got quiet again, and he wondered if they’d heard him.

Finally, Tony spoke. “I… I don’t want to let her go,” he admitted. 

“Me neither,” Nat agreed.

“Taking care of a kid is a lot of work,” Clint warned them. “I have to admit, I’ve grown attached to the kid, but are we really the best people…”

“Better than someone she doesn’t know,” Natasha said fiercely. 

Steve looked at his team members: a genius, billionaire playboy known for his parties, a spy with a mysterious past and a dangerous skill set, a freakishly good archer who was shockingly good with kids, and himself, a hundred-year-old soldier. “If we can defeat an alien army, we can raise a kid, right?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading!  
> Again, I don't exactly edit these, so please tell me if you find a mistake!  
> I'm so sorry, but I can't write about Thor without the pop tarts. It'd be like having Clint without the vents ;) *wink wink* I am so, so (not) sorry (I regret nothing).


	5. Will You Stay With Us?: Steve

The next morning, Steve was flipping pancakes in the kitchen of the tower while Thor unwrapped a poptart. Natasha and Clint were...somewhere, and Bruce had gone home. Tony had invited Steve to stay at the tower, and since Alina was still adjusting he’d decided to stay (though he’d started looking for an apartment).

“Are those pancakes?” Alina asked, skipping into the kitchen. She seemed to be in a good mood, which was good. Kids were strong, Steve reflected. He’d seen kids whose lives had been torn apart by war, yet they always managed to keep smiling.

“Chocolate chip,” Steve replied with a smile. She grinned back at him and plopped down next to Thor, and he placed a stack in front of her. Then she grabbed the syrup and proceeded to drown her pancakes.

“Sure you got enough syrup there?” Steve joked.

Alina looked at him seriously. “Nope!” she said, drizzling more on top. When her pancakes were practically soup, she took a huge bite and smiled at him, her mouth full. 

_Maybe_ , Steve thought, _I should look for an apartment with a second bedroom._

“What is that liquid?” Thor asked, eyeing the syrup while munching on his pastry.

“Syrup,” replied Alina with her mouth full of the sugary substance.

Cautiously, Thor took the syrup bottle and poured a bit onto his pop tart. He took a bite, and his eyes lit up. 

“This is delicious!” he said, pouring on more than Alina had. She grinned at him and Steve sighed. 

Just then, Tony stumbled in. He was bleary-eyed and looked barely awake. “Coffee,” he groaned, making his way over to the coffee maker.

“Do you want to go to the park today?” Steve asked Alina.

“Yes!” she cheered and turned to Thor. “Do you want to come?”

“Why not!” he said, taking a huge bite of his sugary breakfast.

“Is that syrup?” Tony asked. “On a pop tart?”

“Yes,” Thor replied. “Earth food is amazing!”

Tony shook his head and turned back to the coffee maker, which had started gurgling. “Too early,” he muttered. “Need coffee.”

“Why don’t you go get dressed?” Steve asked Alina, and she jumped out of her chair and bounced off to her room. Tony grabbed his coffee mug and took a stool by Steve and Thor. For a while, they sat together in companionable silence.

“Good morning!” a voice said from behind them. 

“Odin’s beard!” Thor yelped. Immediately, Steve spun and tried to grab the intruder’s arm and knock their feet out. Tony didn’t even jump, but sat there sipping his coffee as if nothing happened.

Natasha evaded Steve easily and grinned at him. “Jesus, Nat,” Steve swore.

“Oooh, watch your mouth,” Clint grinned from behind her.

“How do you always manage to evade JARVIS?” Tony grumbled. “He’s the best. After all, I built him.”

Nat rolled her eyes and smiled sweetly at him. “But I’m the best too.” Tony mumbled something inaudible, then drained his mug and got up for more coffee.

“Where’s the kid?” Clint asked.

“She’s getting dressed,” Steve replied. “I’m going to take her to the park.”

“No you’re not,” Nat said. “Fury wants to talk to you.”

“About what?” Steve asked.

“Nothing too important,” Clint muttered.

“You’re just saying that because he wouldn’t tell you,” Natasha teased.

“Exactly, he would’ve told me if it was important.”

“Hey Alina!” Natasha said, not even turning around as the little girl emerged from the doorway behind them. 

Her eyes widened. “How’d you know I was there?”

Nat spun around and smiled. “Spy, remember?”

“Hey, aren’t you excited to see me?” Clint teased, as Alina hadn’t moved from the doorway. To everyone’s surprise, her eyes filled with tears.

“I know why you’re here,” she said quietly.

“What?” Clint asked, sounding as confused as they all felt.

“You’re gonna send me away!” She burst into sobs. “You’re gonna make me go live with someone else, like...like on TV when their parents die and they live with their grandma but I don’t have a grandma so I’m gonna live with a stranger!”

Steve and Tony eyed each other warily, still not quite comfortable with a crying child, but Natasha surged forward and threw her arms around the little girl. “Of course we’re not going to send you away, маленький котенок,” she said. “Actually, we were going to ask you to stay with us?”

Alina pulled away and looked up at her. “Really?” she asked, glancing around the room at everyone.

“Really,” Steve confirmed. He glanced at the dress she was wearing. “Isn’t that the same dress you wore yesterday?” he asked.

She glanced down at the rumpled blue fabric. “I don’t have any other clothes. Can we… can we go to my house and get my stuff?”

This time they all exchanged the awkward glance. Tony had flown by Alina’s house yesterday, when they’d decided that she would stay with them. The apartment had been emptied by the landlord and was already cleaned out.

“маленький котенок, why don’t we buy you new stuff?” Nat asked her. “Since you’re going to stay here with us.” 

Alina frowned and thought about this. “Ok. And I want to pick it out.”

“Of course,” Nat smiled. She looked up at the men. “We’re going shopping.”

“Shopping?” Tony said. “Count me out. But here,” he reached over behind the counter and pulled out the latest Stark phone, then tossed it to Alina. 

Steve frowned. “Do you just keep those around the house?”

“I was going to give it to her anyway, smarta-” he glanced down at Alina. “Smarty pants,” he finished lamely.

Nat sighed. It would definitely take a while to get used to having a kid around. 

“I guess I have to report to SHIELD today,” Steve said. He turned to Alina, “I’ll take you to the park tomorrow, ok?”

“Ok!” She said.

“I would like to come with you, if it’s not too much trouble,” Thor said. “I must get more acquainted with Misgard.” 

Clint clapped his hands. “I love shopping! Let’s go!”

“Slow down,” Natasha said. “We’re going to need a lot of stuff. How are we going to pay for it?”

“Miss Romanoff,” JARVIS said. “Mr. Stark would like me to inform you that there is a credit card connected to his own personal account in the second drawer.”

Clint located the credit card and held it up. He and Natasha exchanged evil grins, and Steve wondered if this was a bad idea. “This is going to be fun.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We had the first confirmed Covid case in our school this week :| and another one today in the local elementary school. Luckily my state has a low number of cases, but some nearby ones (*coughs*Wisconsin*coughs*) need to get their shit together. Wash your hands, wear a mask, and stay safe everyone!  
> Again, thank you so much everyone :)


	6. Shopping: Natasha

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Natasha, Clint, and Thor take Alina shopping.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What?? Is this me, updating?? It can't be!
> 
> Oh yes it is!! Finally, I am updating!! And I am so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so sorry for taking over a month to update. Life is busy, and I procrastinate a lot, and I had writer's block...
> 
> Enough with the excuses! On with the story!

“Ok, where should we start?” Natasha asked. They were walking downtown, since it was faster than driving. Clint, Nat, and Thor were all wearing hoodies and hats in an attempt to disguise themselves. It helped that Alina was with them, since no one expected the Avengers to have a child.

Clint pointed to a store called ‘Old Navy’. “Laura gets a lot of the kids’ clothes from there,” he said.

“Who’s Laura?” asked Alina curiously.

Clint and Nat exchanged a glance. “No one,” Clint said. Nat checked to see if Thor had heard, but he was too busy staring at all the lights, stores, cars, and people.

They made their way to the store. As they were crossing the street, Alina gasped. “Look!” she cried. “Ice cream! Can we go? Please please please!” she begged.

“Ice cream? Of course!” Clint cheered. Nat rolled her eyes but followed them to the stand.

Soon they all had tall cones of ice cream. Alina was licking a chocolate cone, Clint had cookie dough, Nat had vanilla, and Thor got… well, no one knew what Thor got because he finished his in two minutes. 

“Why’d you get vanilla? Vanilla is boring,” Alina asked Nat.

“Wrong, vanilla is the greatest ice cream flavor,” the spy smirked.

“Uh-uh! Chocolate is!” Nat laughed at the little girl’s chocolate smeared face. 

“Alright, let’s get shopping!” Clint said, finishing his ice cream. They walked into the Old Navy.

“Woah, what is this place?” Thor’s voice boomed throughout the store, getting a few weird looks. Nat shushed him and glared at anyone who stared too long. 

“It’s a store,” she explained.

“I have been in a store before!” Thor announced, to everyone in the building. “This is different-” A tiny hand grabbed his arm and he paused. Alina stared up at him with her wide, brown eyes.

“Shhh!” she shushed him with a finger to her lips. “You have to use your inside voice.”

“My apologies,” Thor said, quieting his voice. “But I have never seen a  _ store  _ like this.”

“It’s a clothes store,” Alina explained. “You buy clothes to wear.” She looked up at Nat and Clint. “Where do we go?”

“Good question,” Clint said. He examined nearby signs. “Maybe-”

“That way,” Nat said confidently, pointing to the right.

“How do you know?” Clint asked.

“Spy,” she reminded him.

“Hey, I’m technically a spy too!” Clint complained, following her. Alina and Thor brought up the rear, the little girl clutching the god’s hand. Who was leading who, though, was debatable.

True to Nat’s instincts, they ended up in the little girl’s clothing section. Clint, and even Nat, looked lost amid the aisles and aisles of pink and glittery clothing.

“Well, pick out what you want, I guess,” Clint said. “But you’ll need some specific things. Like…” he scratched his head, thinking.

“Let’s start with the basics,” Nat decided. She led them over to a rack of socks and underwear. Alina, too young to be embarrassed, happily picked out a pack of underwear with Minnie Mouse on them. She also picked out the most colorful and sparkly socks there were. Thor nodded approvingly.

“We need a shopping cart!” Clint said suddenly. “I’ll go get one. Thor, want to come with?”

“A shopping cart?” Thor asked confusedly, but he followed the archer. They were gone for five minutes, and when they returned, Thor was running and pushing Clint, who was sitting in the basket of the cart. Nat rolled her eyes, and he pointedly ignored her.

“What next?” he asked, leaping out.

“Dresses!” Alina announced. She skipped a few aisles over, and the adults followed. Just like with the socks, she picked out the brightest articles of clothing. As she was grabbing the eighth dress, Clint intervened.

“Maybe that’s enough,” he said. “You can’t wear only dresses.”

“Yes I can!” she protested.    
  


“No,” he said, taking her hand and pulling her away. “You cannot.”

They ended up getting a pair of regular jeans and two pairs of colored jeans, and various patterned leggings. Nat added in plain black pants when the little girl wasn’t looking.

“Pajamas!” Clint said as they passed. “You need those!”

“Is this Stark?” Thor asked confusedly, holding out a pair of pajamas with Iron Man on them.

“And here’s Steve!” Nat said delightedly, holding up another set of pajamas. “Oh, these will embarrass him.” She threw the clothing into their cart.

“Don’t get the Iron Man ones,” Clint advised. “He doesn’t need another ego boost.”

“I want them,” Alina said, jutting her chin out. She snatched the pajamas from Thor’s hands.

They continued to shop, getting jackets and t-shirts and shoes (all glittery and colorful). “That’s it for clothes, I think.” Nat said. “Now, onto the other stuff. Furniture and things for your room.”

“I think we’ll need a different store for that,” Clint said. They pushed the cart to the front of the store and were about to leave, until Nat suddenly stopped them.

“We need to buy all this stuff!” she yelped.

“Oops,” Clint said, navigating the cart to the checkout. If the cashier recognized them, or wondered why they were buying an entire wardrobe of little girl clothes, he didn’t show it.

“What are we going to do with all of this stuff?” Thor asked. He was holding 7 shopping bags. His question was answered when they walked out of the store, and Happy Hogan was waiting in a car out front.

“Tony said you’d need a chauffeur,” he said.

“Happy!” Nat said, well, happily.

“You know Stark’s driver?” Clint asked.

“I’m not  _ only  _ his driver,” Happy protested. 

“I know everyone,” Nat answered.

“So this is the little girl,” Happy said as they loaded the bags into the car. Alina shrank behind Thor. “I’m Happy, Tony’s driver, head of security, and sometimes friend.”

“Your real name is Happy?” Alina asked incredulously. “Are you a clown?”

Clint burst into laughter as Happy glared at him. “Not a clown,” he said to Alina.

“Well, time to go to the next store. Where do you think we should go?” Nat asked Happy.

“There’s a furniture store down the street. I’ll come with you, to arrange for the furniture to be sent to the tower.”

With Clint still wheezing, they move to the next store. There, they bought a bunk bed, a dresser, a desk and chair, a bean bag, and a lamp. As they walked out of the store, Nat said “Well, I think that’s everything.”

“Toys!” Alina shouted at her. “We need toys!”

“We do need toys,” Clint grinned at Nat. “And I know a huge toy store.”

“Of course you know where the toy store is,” Nat said. Clint pretended to look hurt.

Since the store was farther away, Happy drove them. “I’ll be waiting,” he called as they left. “Don’t let Barton overspend!”

As they walked into the toy store, Alina’s eyes grew as large as saucers. There were rows and and rows of games, dolls, stuffed animals, and yes, LEGOs. There were games on display to try, there were little kiddie rides that cost a few cents, there was a ball pit, there was a long train going around a track. In short, it was a kid’s paradise.

“Come on, come one!” Alina squealed, pulling Thor’s arm. “Come see!” Clint, too, was caught up in the excitement. He looked just as happy as the little girl.

Over the course of an hour, they bought toy after toy. Nat thought that maybe Alina was being spoiled, but she deserved it after what she’d been through. Besides, Clint was being spoiled just as much.

“This’ll be me one day,” Clint said, holding up a collectible set of Captain America and Bucky Barnes action figures. Nat rolled her eyes at him.

Thor and Alina raided the LEGO section, coming back with tub upon tub of LEGOs until there were so many that they wouldn’t fit in the cart. Natasha, being the only responsible one, made them put some back.

“Come on, join the fun!” Clint said while they were looking at stuffed animals. Alina was squeezing a ginormous teddy bear, and Thor was looking at a stuffed snake rather oddly.

“Someone has to be the adult!” She protested, but when Alina handed her an all-black cat stuffed animal, she kept it.

Finally, Happy came inside to try to drag them out of the store, but even he got distracted as Clint and Alina begged him for a trampoline. “Where would we even put it?” he protested, and no amount of puppy eyes from the two would change his mind. Finally, he managed to get them to the checkout and into the car, which was filled to the brim with shopping bags. The ride home was peaceful, as Alina, exhausted from the long day, fell asleep clutching her new unicorn stuffed animal. It had been a good day, Nat reflected. She hoped that this was the start of many more days just like this one.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to everyone who left a kind comment or kudos! You encouraged me not to give up on this story, and to write a new chapter! You are all wonderful! *gives you all a giant virtual hug*


	7. We Can Be Each Other's Family: Steve

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to obsessedmarvelfan and Sarawr1311 for your continuing support of this story! And thank you to Rayana Nicolle for commenting! All your comments encourage me to keep writing :)

A week later, Steve, Alina, and Natasha sat in the living room of the tower. Steve smiled at the way Alina stuck her tongue out in concentration as she moved the blue crayon across the pad of paper. He added it into the drawing of her that he was doing in his sketchbook. Alina, in turn, was drawing him. Natasha was reading something, her pad of paper and colored pencils abandoned on the floor; she had given up, saying, to Steve’s amusement, that drawing was not for her.

“Look!” Alina said, shoving her pad of paper in Steve’s face. “Look, look, look!” He pushed the pad away from his face, taking in the blue and yellow scribbles. It did look like him, or at least a six-year-old’s drawing of him.

“Nice job,” he said, adding a few more lines to his own drawing. Alina glanced down at it.

“Wow!” she said. “You’re good at drawing!”

“Thanks,” Steve said. “You are too.”

She studied her picture. “No I’m not.” She frowned. “How do I make mine look like that?”

“Well,” Steve said, trying to think of some gentle pointers he could give her. “First, you should draw with a pencil. Crayons are for coloring.”

“Oh,” she said, throwing the crayon to the floor and selecting a pencil from the assortment of drawing utensils in front of them. Steve leaned down to pick up the discarded crayon when Tony burst into the room.

“Pepper finalized the documents,” he announced.

“And that means…” Nat asked, looking up from her book.

“Alina has officially been adopted,” he said. Though he kept his cool and unruffled tone, Nat had been a spy long enough to see that he was happy.

“By who?” Steve frowned. The press would have a field day if they found out that Iron Man or Captain America had adopted a child.

“Pepper, legally,” Tony said. “But I’m Tony Stark. The law bends to my will.” Nat rolled her eyes and Steve raised his eyebrows at the billionaire.

“So you’re keeping me?” Alina asked, looking up from her drawing.

“Of course!” Steve said. “And now it’s official.” All three adults looked at the little girl, trying to gauge her reaction. She seemed to consider it for a bit, no emotion showing on her face. Then she threw her arms around Steve, who was the nearest.

“Thank you,” she whispered, and Steve squeezed her back. Then she broke away and ran to Tony.

“I don’t do hugs,” Tony said, but Alina ignored him and threw her arms around his waist. He awkwardly patted her back.

As Alina went to hug Natasha, Steve spoke. “I think this is a cause for celebration,” he said.

“Food?” Tony suggested.

“As long as you’re paying,” Nat remarked from the couch.

“Well, then,” Tony said. “Avengers assemble.”

* * *

  
  


Thor had already gone back to Asgard, but Clint and Bruce- the latter very reluctantly- showed up to celebrate. After _much_ debate, they settled on going to McDonald’s. Steve was a bit worried about causing an incident, but the restaurant was mostly empty and the bored-looking cashier didn’t even give them a second glance. After ordering a huge amount of food, they took it to a nearby park.

“Look!” Alina cried, pulling the toy out of her Happy Meal. “It’s you!” The toy was a green plastic figure of the Hulk. Everyone glanced at Bruce, who had an odd expression on his face. 

Clint dug through his own Happy Meal. “Aw, dang it! I wanted Hawkeye!” He pulled out a plastic Black Widow, and Natasha shoved him.

“Be grateful,” she said, snatching the toy from his hand. “You got the best one.”

“Here,” Alina said, holding her toy out to Bruce. “It’s you. You have it.” The rest of the team exchanged uneasy glances, knowing how Bruce felt about ‘the other guy’, but the doctor gingerly took the toy and examined it.

“Thank you,” he said hoarsely. Alina grinned back at him, then shoved a chicken nugget in her mouth.

They chatted happily as they ate, enjoying each other’s company. Finally, Alina jumped up.

“I’m done,” she announced. “I want to go play.”

“Go,” Tony said, his mouth full. “You can go.”

“But I want you to come play with me,” she said, her eyes wide and pleading.

Clint immediately jumped up. “I’ll come.” When Nat gave him a look, he joined Alina in her pleading. “Please Nat?” he begged. “You should all come.”

“I don’t know,” Nat said. “Steve might break the playground.”

“I’m coming,” Steve said, getting up.

“You’re all coming,” Alina decided. She inched slowly toward Clint, then shot out a hand. “Tag! You’re it!” She shouted, racing toward the playground as fast as her small legs could carry her.

“Tag,” Clint said, touching Nat on the shoulder and taking off after the little girl.

Natasha smirked at the rest of the team, who by now had gotten out of their seats. “Tag,” she said, grabbing Bruce.

“No, no,” he said. “I don’t play tag.”

“Too bad,” Tony said. “You’re it.” He ran- or, jogged- after the rest of them.

Bruce looked at Steve pleadingly. “Sorry,” the super soldier said. “I don’t make the rules of tag.” He raced off.

The doctor sighed. “Guess I’m doing this,” he muttered, and he jogged toward the playground. Probably knowing he was outmatched by the two spies and the super soldier, he turned his gaze upon the little girl and the billionaire. The latter was struggling to climb a rope ladder. Clint was sitting at the top, taunting him. Bruce ran over and jumped up, tapping Tony’s leg. “Tag!”

“Damn it,” Tony muttered. He glanced up at Clint, who nimbly pulled his legs up so that they were out of the billionaire’s reach. Tony jumped down and landed with a huff, but Bruce was already gone.

Tony stalked toward the main play structure, where Nat, Steve, and Alina were waiting. He climbed the stairs, staring at Steve. The soldier wasn't worried- not matter how fast Tony was, Steve was faster. Still staring at Steve, Tony darted to the side at the last minute at Natasha. A good trick, but the spy easily evaded him by leaping to the ground.

“This isn’t fair, I should get to use my suit,” he muttered. “Not all of us have physical superpowers.”

“Grow up and quit whining,” Natasha called from the ground.

“Grow up?” Tony shot back. “We’re playing tag.”

“Call it training,” she said, darting away. With a sigh, he turned and headed back in Alina's direction. Steve figured that Tony had realized he was outmatched by most of the team. He figured Tony could outrun a six year old. Probably.

The six year old in question was perched at the top of a slide. When he got close, she squealed and launched herself down the slide. Tony hesitated for a second, then followed her down. He hopped to his feet, stumbling a bit, and raced after her. He was gaining on her; closer, closer…

“Tag!” He shouted triumphantly. Alina shrieked with joy and sprinted off, and Tony bent over, trying to catch his breath.

Alina dashed toward the monkey bars, where Steve waited with Natasha. Natasha was perched easily on top while Steve gingerly climbed the ladder, trying not to break it. He eyed the little girl coming up behind him. Finally, he gave up and hopped off the ladder, backing away. Alina ignored him and scrambled to climb the ladder to get to Nat. 

She easily pulled herself up the ladder, and reached up for the first bar. She tried to pull herself up to climb on top, but gave up. Undeterred, she grabbed the first bar and reached for the second bar. She swung her body toward it and grabbed the second with one hand. Then she swung her other hand so both were holding that bar. She struggled, but managed to get to the third bar in the same way.

Alina swung for the fourth bar and missed, falling back so she was hanging by one hand. Steve tensed, but Alina managed to recover so she was again hanging by both hands. Biting her lip, she swung back to grab the fourth bar, and again missed. This time she hung from her right hand, struggling to try to grab anything with her left. The fingers on her right hand started to slip. Steve lunged toward her, but he was too far away.

Quickly, Natasha leapt down and caught the little girl as she fell with a shriek. Everyone else let out the breath they had been holding.

Oblivious to the tense atmosphere, Alina looked at Natasha and happily yelled “Tag! I got you! You’re it!” Then she wriggled out of Nat’s arms and ran away, giggling.

* * *

Eventually, everyone got tired. Bruce had decided to call it a night, and Clint and Nat had also left. Tony and Alina were swinging on the swings, and Steve, again afraid of breaking the playground equipment with his super strength, was pushing the little girl.

“Weeee!” She cheered, flying through the air. “I’m flying!”

“Eh,” Tony said, swinging just as high. “The real thing is much better.”

“Can you take me flying sometime?” Alina asked.

“Well, maybe,” Tony said. “Pepper wouldn’t like it. I’m in.” Alina giggled. They continued to swing in amiable silence. Soon Steve stopped pushing and both swings started to slow.

Suddenly, both men heard a sob come from the little girl. “Alina?” Steve asked, alarmed. The little girl had tears streaming down her face, so he moved toward her. However, she jumped away.

“Alina?” Steve asked. He had thought she was doing fine, living with them.

“I c-can’t,” she sobbed. 

“Why not?” he asked gently.

“You c-can’t be my family,” she cried. “My o-old family will be m-mad! I already h-have a m-mommy and dad-ddy!”

Steve looked lost on what to do, so Tony moved toward the little girl. “Hey,” he said gently. She tried to turn away, but he put a comforting hand on her shoulder. “Listen. We could never replace your mom and dad. And you’ll always miss them. But would they want you to be alone? We don’t have to replace them. You don’t even have to think of us as your family. We can just be- I don’t know, like aunts and uncles? Whatever we are, though, we’ll take care of you. We can’t be your mom and dad. But I’ll-we’ll be the best we can be.”

Alina looked up at him through her tears. “You don’t have a mom and dad too, right?”

“Ye-yeah,” Tony said.

She turned to Steve. “Do you?” He shook his head mutely.

“I can be your family,” she said. “We can be each other’s family.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to everyone for reading, commenting, and leaving kudos!
> 
> So... I'll tell you a secret. I was making all that up as I went. But the next parts I already have planned, so I should get chapters out faster! I am so, so, SO excited to get started. All this was just Alina's backstory, an origin story of sorts. And it was fun to write an all-fluff story for once! But strap yourselves in, and get ready for some action and some angst. Civil War is especially fun... MWAHAHAHAHAHA.


	8. Four Years Later: Alina

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Four years, almost five, have passed since the last chapter. That one took place in October of 2011, and this one takes place in March of 2016.

**ALMOST FIVE YEARS LATER**

“Are they back yet? Are they back yet?” Alina bounced into the car and clutched the back of Happy’s seat. “Are they? Are they?”

“Slow down,” Happy said, pulling out of the parking lot of Midtown Middle School. “And put your seatbelt on; do you want Pepper to yell at me again?”

The ten year old reluctantly took a seat and buckled her seatbelt, then started bouncing again. “Are they back? What happened?”

“They got back maybe half an hour ago,” Happy replied. “Everyone’s five, Dr. Cho is just patching up Barton. He’s fine,” he added, seeing that Alina was about to launch into another round of questions. “He took a hit, but she’s fixing him up. I’ll let them fill you in on the rest.”

“Awww, can’t you tell me now?” She begged. 

“I don’t know much either,” he replied. “Relax. Now, how was your day?” For the rest of the car ride, Alina chattered about school and what she had learned in science and math. At ten years old, she was in the fifth grade at Midtown Middle School. Though she was average (or maybe a bit below average) at English and History, she was a STEM genius. She took eight grade level classes for both, and loved it. 

Finally, they reach Avengers tower. Before the car had even stopped, Alina was out the door and running into the building. 

“Hey JARVIS!” she called as she dashed to the elevator. “Where is everyone?”

“Good afternoon, Alina,” the AI replied. “Mr. Barton and Ms. Romanoff are in the med bay, and Mr. Stark and Dr. Banner are in Mr. Stark’s lab.”

“Perfect, thanks JARVIS!” Alina skidded to a halt in the elevator, seeing Happy just entering the building as the elevator doors closed. The elevator seemed to move extra slowly today, and she hummed and bounced around, impatient. After what seemed like forever, the doors opened.

“I’m home!” she called, bounding out of the elevator with her backpack bouncing behind her. The elevator exited into the lab, where Tony and Bruce were huddled together over a screen. 

“Hey Curly,” Tony said, without looking up. Bruce gave her a small wave, and they both went back to their work. Alina stuck her tongue out at their backs and hurried toward the med bay.

“How was school, маленький котенок?” Natasha asked as Alina climbed the few steps. She was sitting next to Clint, who was lying on a bed with some weird machinery over him. Dr. Cho was tapping away on her tablet.

“It was good,” Alina answered impatiently. “Now tell me about the mission!” She turned to examine Clint. “Are you ok? What’s this stuff?”

“I’m fine,” Clint smiled at her. “Dr. Cho here is re-growing my cells.”

“What?” Alina asked interestedly. “Cool!” She examined the machinery further. “This is so cool.” Dr. Cho smiled at her.

“The mission was a success,” Natasha informed the girl. “We just ran into a bit of trouble.”

“What kind of trouble?” Alina asked. “Nothing you couldn’t handle, right?”

“I could’ve taken them all out by myself,” Clint said.

“Which is why you’re lying on this table,” Natasha said, raising her eyebrows.

“What trouble?” Alina questioned impatiently.

“Two new enhanced twins with some wacky powers,” Clint told her.

“What kind of powers?”

“From what I can tell, super speed and some weird mind thing.”

“Who are they?” Alina asked excitedly. “Do they work for HYDRA? What-”

“I bet you have homework, right?” Natasha asked, cutting her off and giving Clint a look. “You should get started on that.”

“But-”

“Homework,” Nat said with a glare. Alina sighed and swung her backpack up.

“Your healing is complete, Mr. Barton,” Dr. Cho interrupted.

“Perfect, “ Clint said. He swung his legs up so he was sitting on the edge of the bed. “What do you say we go get a snack, Li-Li?”

“Yes!” Alina brightened. “Milkshakes!”

“Sounds good to me!”

* * *

“Hold still before I accidentally stab you with this,” Nat ordered. Alina stopped bouncing and stood as still as she could, and Natasha slipped the last barrette into her hair. “There.”

“Thanks, Nat!” Alina bounced up again. Then she twirled in a circle. “How do I look?” She was wearing a navy blue dress that had a poofy skirt covered in gold stars. Her dark curls were clipped back with gold star barrettes, and she wore gold flats.

“Beautiful,” Nat proclaimed. She herself was wearing a white dress, and her short hair was parted to the side and slightly curled at the ends. Turning back to the mirror, she picked up a tube of lipstick and started to apply it to her lips.

“Can I have lipstick?” Alina asked.

Natasha studied the little girl in the mirror, and Alina gave her best puppy dog eyes in return. “Fine. Be careful when you apply it.” Alina selected a tube, and Nat showed her how to put it on.

“Now we both look beautiful,” Alina said, satisfied. “Time for the party!”

“Remember the rules,” Nat warned as they walked to the stairs.

“No talking to strangers alone, no alcohol whatsoever, and go to bed before midnight,” Alina rattled off diligently. 

“Exactly right,” Natasha said, and they entered the room. Music was playing, but not too loudly, and people who were probably important milled around, chatting and drinking. Thor was with a group of veterans, Sam and Steve were playing pool, and Clint was talking to Dr. Cho.

Natasha crossed the room toward a group of couches and Alina followed close behind her, glancing warily around the room.

“Can I go play with Steve and Sam?” Alina asked Nat, who had struck up a conversation with Rhodey.

“Sure, go ahead,” Nat said, not giving Alina her full attention. The little girl, however, didn’t move.

“You can go,” Natasha said, her and Rhodey both turning to Alina.

“I know,” Alina said. “I just… can you walk over with me?”   
  


“You don’t have to be scared of Sam, he’s a wimp,” Rhodey joked.

Alina flushed. “I’m not scared of  _ Sam _ ! I’m not scared of anything!”

“Ok, ok,” Rhodey said, holding up his hands in mock surrender. “I’ll walk you over. You good with that, Nat?”

“Be my guest. I’m going to head over to the bar and get a drink.”

Alina trailed Rhodey just as closely as she had Nat. To her growing annoyance, he seemed to know  _ everyone _ , and had to stop to talk with all of them. After five minutes they were only halfway to the pool table, and Alina impatiently tugged on Rhodey’s sleeve.

“All right, we’re going,” Rhodey said. He excused himself from the conversation (taking far too long to do it, in Alina’s opinion) and walked directly over to the pool tables.

“Hey Rhodes, hey Alina,” Sam greeted them. Steve was concentrating on aiming his pool cue, but he nodded at them in greeting.

“Hi Sam!” Alina greeted happily. She turned back to Rhodey. “You can go talk about politics, or tell your lame stories, or whatever it is you were doing.”

Sam burst into laughter as Rhodey feigned a look of hurt. “My War Machine stories are hilarious,” he protested, and disappeared into the crowd.

“Ha!” A shout came from Steve as he scored. Sam cursed and turned his attention back to the game. Alina watched happily, occasionally participating in the banter. For the rest of the party, she alternated trailing the different members of the team. As she met more people and grew more comfortable, she found that she was actually having a pretty good time.

At one point, she ended up sitting next to Tony at the bar. As he was distracted, she stealthily grabbed his drink and took a sip. It was surprisingly strong, and she started coughing, earning the attention of Tony and the other adults he was talking to, who all burst into laughter.

“Hey,” Tony scolded as her cheeks turned red. “There’s a list of people who will kill me if they find out about this.”

“Don’t worry,” she said, still coughing a bit. “They’ll kill me too.” This brought another round of laughter.

As her curfew crept closer, Alina found herself getting tired. The party started emptying, but she barely noticed. Curled up next to Steve on a couch, she found herself slowly drifting off…

The next thing she knew, she was startled awake by an explosion. 


	9. Ultron: Alina

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm baaaaack!
> 
> It's finally time for some action! Who's ready?

Still sleepy, Alina was suddenly jolted as Steve started shaking her.

“Wha-what’s going on?” She asked. More explosions and shouting, and suddenly she was wide awake.

“I got her,” Clint said, pulling Alina behind a flipped over table. Steve nodded and dashed away. Alina watched the scene in shock. It seemed as if one of Tony’s bots had gone rogue, and was now attacking them. She watched Tony jump onto one of the bots and start prying at it with a screwdriver. Steve yanked a bot and threw it before it could blast Dr. Cho, and Thor smashed it with his hammer. Tony managed to sever the head of the boy he was holding. Muttering to Alina “Stay here”, Clint ran out from behind the table and grabbed Steve’s shield, throwing it to him like a frisbee with a warning cry of “Cap!” Steve caught it and threw it at one of the remaining bots, smashing it.

There was only one bot left, which seemed to be the leader. Alina peered around the edge of the table as it said “That was dramatic.”

“Sorry, I know you mean well,” it said, pacing. Alina wondered why no one moved to stop it. “You just didn’t think it through. You want to protect the world, but you don’t want it to change. How is humanity saved if it’s not allowed to… evolve?” 

Look at these,” it picked up one of the fallen bots. “These… puppets.” He ripped the head off and threw it to the ground. “There’s only one path to peace. The Avengers extinction.” Suddenly, Thor threw his hammer at the bot with a roar. The bot slammed into the wall, smashed to pieces, and Thor grabbed his hammer from the air. There was a silence, with only the sound of Thor’s panting. Alina waited nervously behind the table. The bot flickered, and in an eerie, robotic voice, it sang “I had strings, but now I’m free.”

* * *

  
  


“All our work is gone,” Bruce said, his voice hollow. “Ultron cleared out. He used the internet as an escape hatch.”

“Ultron,” Steve said, his voice full of contempt.

“He’s been in everything,” Natasha said, looking up from her screen. “Files, surveillance.” 

They were looking through the lab. In the wake of Ultron’s attack, Alina had been forgotten. She had slipped into the lab unnoticed. Though she wasn’t told  _ specifically _ that she couldn’t be here, she knew that this was Avengers business. She also knew that it was very late at night-or early in the morning.

“Probably knows more about us than we know about each other,” Nat remarked.

“He’s in your files, he’s in the internet,” Rhodey said, pacing the room. “What if he decides to access something a little more exciting?”

“Nuclear codes,” Maria Hill said gravely.

“Nuclear codes,” Rhodey agreed. “Look, we need to make some calls, assuming we still can.”

“Nukes?” Nat asked. “He said he wanted  _ us  _ dead.”

“He didn’t say dead,” Steve interrupted. “He said extinct.”

“He also said he killed somebody,” Clint reminded them.

“There wasn’t anyone else in the building,” Maria told him.

“Yes there was,” Tony said, walking over to another screen. He pulled up what looked like a big mess of orange code. JARVIS, Alina realized. But the AI looked like it had been torn apart.

Bruce paced toward the glowing mess, narrowing his eyes in confusion. “What?” He shook his head, looking at Tony incredulously. “This is insane.”

Steve looked somber. “JARVIS was the first line of defense. He would have shut Ultron down, it makes sense.”

“No,” Bruce said. “Ultron could have assimilated JARVIS. This isn’t strategy. This is…” he shook his head. “Rage.”

Just then, Thor stormed into the room. He blew past Alina, who retreated into the shadows, but the god was too focused on his mission to notice the girl. He stomped toward Tony and grabbed him, lifting him by the throat. Alina gasped. She knew Thor was a god, and that he could be scary, but he had always been happy around her, and nothing but kind. She had never seen him in action.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa,” Steve said, rushing forward.

“It’s going around,” Clint said.

“Come on, use your words, buddy,” Tony panted.

“I have more than enough words to describe you, Stark,” Thor said, not loosening his grip a bit.

“Thor!” Steve said. “The Legionnaire.” Thor dropped Tony to the ground, still glaring.

“Trail went cold about 100 miles out, but it’s headed north,” he reported. “And it has the scepter.” He paused to let that sink in. “Now we have to retrieve it, again.”

“Genie’s out of that bottle,” Natasha said, sounding unconcerned. “Clear and present is Ultron.”

“I don’t understand,” Helen Cho said. She had been quiet for so long, Alina had forgotten she was there. “You built this program.” She turned to Tony. “Why is it trying to kill us?”

Tony chuckled, and the team exchanged glances. Bruce shook his head at the billionaire, and Alina wondered if he was in shock or something, because nothing about the situation was funny.

“You think this is funny?” Thor demanded.

“No,” Tony said, straight faced. “It’s probably not, right? This is very terrible. Is it so…” He laughed again. “Is it.. It is, it’s so terrible.”

“This could have been avoided if you didn’t play with something you don’t understand,” Thor said.

“No,” Tony interrupted. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry. It is funny. It’s a hoot that you don’t get why we need this.” He was standing face to face with the god now, spitting the words in his face.

“Tony, maybe this might not be the time…” Bruce warned. 

“Really? That’s it?” Tony said, turning to him. “You just roll over, show your belly every time somebody snarls?”

“Only when I’ve created a murder bot,” Bruce retorted.

“We didn’t. We weren’t even close, were we close to an interface?”

“Well you did something right,” Steve said, joining the argument. “And you did it right here. The Avengers were supposed to be different than S.H.I.E.L.D.”

“Anybody remember when I carried a nuke through a wormhole?” Tony asked, his tone light.

“No, it’s never come up,” Rhodey said.

“Saved New York?”

“Never heard that.”

“Recall that? A hostile alien army came charging through a hole in space. We’re standing 300 feet below it.” Everyone was silent. “We’re the Avengers,” he continued. “We can bust arms dealers all the livelong day, but that up there, that’s… that’s the endgame.” His voice was grave. “How were you guys planning on beating that?”

“Together,” Steve said, raising an eyebrow.

Tony looked him in the eye and stepped forward. Alina held her breath, watching in rapt attention. “We’ll lose,” he said.

Steve was unfazed. “Then we’ll do that together too.” The room was silent until Steve continued. “Thor’s right. Ultron’s calling us out. And I’d like to find him before he’s ready for us. The world’s a big place. Let’s start making it smaller.”

Everyone got up and started moving around the room. Knowing that she should move before she got caught, Alina slowly got to her feet and crouched down, trying to sneak out of the lab. As soon as she took her first step, she kicked something small and metal, sending it skittering across the floor. Everyone turned to stare at her.

“Alina, what are you doing here?” Tony asked calmly.

“I… I…” she searched for an excuse. “Nobody exactly remembered I was there and you didn’t  _ say _ that I couldn’t be here…” she trailed off.

“If you thought you could be here, why were you sneaking around?” Nat asked, amused.

“I didn’t want to disturb you,” Alina said loftily. Tony, Rhodey, and Sam all chuckled.

“It’s late,” Steve said. “You need to go to bed.”

“I assume you heard all of our conversation?” Tony asked. Everyone else, besides Steve and Nat, suddenly tried to look busy.

Alina nodded, not saying a word. Suddenly, she felt exhausted and scared. She stared up at the three adults and tried not to cry.

“Hey, it’s ok  маленький котенок,”  Nat said, sensing her feelings.

“I’ll take you to bed,” Tony said, not looking at the other two. “Come on.” He took her hand and led her out of the room.

The walked in silence, Alina trying to figure out what to say first. She picked the easiest question. “Is JARVIS gone?”

“Yeah,” Tony said. “He’s gone.”

“I’ll miss him,” she said quietly. “He was part of the family too.”

“I know,” Tony said. “I’ll miss him too.”

They got to Alina’s room. It was painted a light yellow, and the walls were covered in Star Wars posters and pictures. She had a bunk bed with a pink unicorn bedspread, with the upper bunk covered in stuffed animals. There was a bookshelf stuffed to the brim with books, a desk covered in paper, pencils, markers, and other assorted items, and a long table with thousands of LEGO bricks and awesome LEGO creations that Alina had built. 

She grabbed pajamas from her closet and disappeared into the bathroom to change, while Tony sat down on the bed, narrowly avoiding bumping his head on the upper bunk.

A few minutes later, Alina slid out of the bathroom, wearing her unicorn onesie pajamas. “Did you brush your teeth?” Tony asked.

“Do I ha- have to?” She asked, yawning.

“Yes,” he said. 

“I wish I was an adult,” she said from the bathroom. “They don’t have to brush their teeth. And, I could be an Avenger and stay in your important meetings.”

“You don’t want to be an adult,” Tony said. “The meetings are boring  _ and  _ you still have to brush your teeth.”

The little girl came back and crawled into the bed. “Any more burning questions before you go to sleep?” The billionaire joked.

Alina was quiet for a little bit. Then she asked, “Is Ultron coming back?”

Tony sighed. “Maybe, “ he said truthfully. “But we’ll catch him before he does.”

“What if you don’t?” She asked fearfully. “Or what if he catches you before you catch him?”

“We’re the Avengers,” Tony said lightly. “Of course we’ll catch him first.”

“You guys didn’t seem like much of a team in there,” Alina said. “You didn’t seem very sure of your abilities then.”

“No team is perfect,” Tony said. “We all have our differences. We fight a lot,” he admitted. “But we’re a team. We’re a family, right?” The little girl nodded. “Families always stick together, no matter what. No matter what comes at us, we can beat it.”

“You said we’ll lose together,” She reminded him.

“And we might,” he said. “But then we’ll get stronger and we’ll get back up, because we have each other to rely on. We’ll always keep fighting,” he added. “Until we win, and the world is safe. So you,” he said, poking Alina in the stomach so she giggled. “Can grow up safe and sound. Sounds good?” He asked.

She nodded. “Sounds good.” Tony leaned over and kissed her on the forehead, and she tried to wiggle away. “You’re scratchy!” She protested, giggling.

“Good night,” he said, flipping the lights off. The stick-on stars on Alina’s ceiling glowed brightly.

“Good night,” she replied.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heyyy! I hope everyone is staying safe from Covid-19! So far, I'm still in school (and I have an essay to write...ew). 
> 
> My dearest sister has FINALLY read this story, after much begging on my part. So here's a chapter, just for you sis... just kidding. This chapter is for everyone who commented and left kudos, and who has read my story from the start (unlike SOMEONE)
> 
> I've been thinking a lot about alternate endings for the story and how I'm going to continue it, and I think I have some things in mind now... though that's still all a long way off. I have things planned through Civil War, so that should be good for now.
> 
> Thank you all for reading! Have a great day (or night, if you're like me and read these at 2am)  
> :)


	10. Rhodey Babysits: Alina

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alina acts like a spoiled, whiny child because hey, she's ten years old.

When Alina woke up, the floor was quiet. Sliding down the hallway in her socks, she found that she hated the quiet. With so many people living together, the tower was always filled with noise. And JARVIS made sure she always had someone to talk to.

She found everyone still in the lab, looking through boxes and files. “Whatcha looking for?” She asked, entering the room.

“Ultron,” Clint said. “Obviously.” Alina stuck her tongue out at him, and he returned the gesture.

“Can you get your own breakfast?” Steve asked distractedly.

“Yes,” she said, frowning.

“Don’t you have school today?” Tony asked, also not looking up from what he was doing.

“It’s Sunday,” she reminded him.

“Is it? I hadn’t noticed.” Alina stood there for a few more seconds, but no one said anything else, so she reluctantly went to the kitchen. She found a box of poptarts and sat down at the table with them.

She  _ really _ didn’t like the silence.

“JAR-” she started, then remembered that the AI was gone. Sighing, she got up, then realized she didn’t know how to play music or anything without the AI’s help. And her phone was all the way up in her room.

She was used to Tony being distracted. Sometimes, when he was working on a project, she wouldn’t see him for days. But there was always someone to play with, or even just sit in companionable silence with. Steve and Tony had had individual missions, but the whole team had never been needed. Long story short, she had been the center of attention for four years, and now she wasn’t. And she wasn’t happy. Sure, it was childish, but she was a child. 

After eating five poptarts-which Steve would never had allowed her to do; maybe there were a few upsides to not being noticed- she went up to her room and got dressed in her favorite dress. Going back downstairs, she settled into the couch and put on her favorite show, KC Undercover. Then, because there was no one to tell her no, she got another pop tart and put on a TV show that she wasn’t allowed to watch.

An hour later, she was hanging upside down off the couch, bored out of her mind, when Natasha came in. “We’ve got a lead,” she said.

“Ok,” Alina said, still staring at the TV. She was still mad that no one was paying attention to her.

“We’re going to follow up on this lead,” Nat continued, standing in front of the girl and blocking the television. “Rhodey will be over in a little bit. Can you handle being by yourself for 15 minutes until he gets here?”

“I’ve handled being by myself for the past hour and a half,” Alina retorted irritably.

“Great,” Nat said, rushing out of the room. “Sit up; you’re going to fall and get hurt.” She hadn’t even noticed that Alina was watching a TV-14 show.

“You’re going to fall and get hurt,” Alina mocked. Then she let out a shriek as she fell on her head. 

* * *

  
  


When Rhodey showed up, Alina still hadn’t moved from her position on the floor. Her neck had started to cramp, but she didn’t care. She had been attacked by an evil robot, she hadn’t gotten enough sleep, and now she was being ignored. Life sucked.

“That doesn’t look very comfortable,” Rhodey said, walking in.

“I’m bored,” she whined. Then she shot him a glare. “Don’t make a dad joke.”

“I wouldn’t stoop that low,” he said, taking a seat on the couch. “I’m not Barton.”

“What’s the mission they’re on?” She asked him.

“They’re following a lead on Ultron, that’s all I know. They don’t know when they’ll be back.”

Alina frowned even more.

“So, are we going to sit here all day?” Rhodey asked after a few minutes of silence.

“Maybe,” she said sullenly.

“You don’t want to go do something fun?”

“You could put on the War Machine suit and we could fly somewhere,” she said, looking up at him hopefully.

“Nice try,” he chuckled. 

She contemplated for a bit. “Roller skating?”

“There  is no way I’m going roller skating.”

“Then what do you want to do, old man?” She asked, half teasing and half annoyed.

“I’ll tell you what I don’t want to do: I don’t want to hang out with a sassy little girl all day.”

“Feel free to leave at any time.”

They sat in silence for a while longer. Then Rhodey suggested “We could go to the zoo.”

Alina considered it. “Fine. The zoo.”

They could have ordered a driver, but it wasn’t far and the weather was nice, so they decided to walk. Since it was Sunday it was crowded, and they joined the long line of people buying tickets. Once inside, they saw animal after animal, and Alina eventually forgot about being mad. How could you pout while watching otters splash around, or feeding a giraffe? She even convinced Rhodey to ride the carousel, something he would later deny ever doing.

They ate a lunch that Rhodey complained was “Way too expensive for crappy food” and got giant ice cream cones. Finally, around 4 o’clock, even Alina was tired out, and they called a cab to take them home.

“Is the mission over?” Alina asked.

“I haven’t heard anything, so I assume no.” Rhodey replied.

“Can we go somewhere fun for dinner, then?” She pleaded.

“It’s only 4:15. It’s a little early for dinner.”

“We can eat early. We’ll miss the crowds. Please?” She gave him her best puppy eyes.

“Fine,” Rhodey sighed. After debating restaurants, they finally settled on a fancy pizza place. As they were waiting to be led to their table, Rhodey’s phone rang.

“Hello?” he said, picking it up. “Tony!” He said, giving Alina a meaningful look. “Ok. Yeah, I can do that. It’s not trouble, we’re having a lot of fun. Ok, good luck.” When he hung up, the little girl was looking at him eagerly.

“So so so?” She asked, bouncing on the tips of her toes.

“They won’t be coming home tonight. They’re staying at a safe house.” He watched her face fall. “Hey, why don’t we have a movie night?”

“Sure,” she said quietly. 

Dinner was somber. Rhodey tried to cheer Alina up, but he could tell she was disappointed. Still, she smiled as they talked about what movies to watch on the ride home. It was almost 7 when they pulled up to the tower, stuffed.

“I say Harry Potter marathon,” Alina said. 

“You realize we’ll never make it through all the movies, right?” Rhodey asked, popping popcorn in the microwave.

“I won’t sleep,” she said seriously. “I will watch them all!”

Alina fell asleep during the fourth movie. Rhodey had been asleep since the end of the Prisoner of Azkaban, and though she tried to hold her eyes open, her lack of sleep the night before and all the walking they had done at the zoo came crashing down on her. Telling herself she was just resting her eyes, she closed them and fell instantly asleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for taking so long to update! I have one excuse: I'm addicted to the show Supernatural. I've been watching it every chance I get, so I procrastinated on updating this!
> 
> This chapter wasn't very eventful, and there probably won't be any more action until Civil War. Enjoy these happy days, because as the years go on things will get worse and worse :)


	11. You Don't Know What's In There: Alina

Alina woke up confused. This wasn’t her room; where was she? She blinked and the events of the past 48 hours came rushing back to her. With a groan, she rolled over and fell off the couch with a small scream.

Rhodey’s eyes flew open and he scanned the room. “Alina? What happened?”

“I fell off,” she lifted her head to look at Rhodey, then flopped back to the ground.

Rhodey laughed and sat up, then immediately groaned. “Ohh, sleeping on this couch was not good for my back.”

“Old man,” Alina taunted from the floor. “I thought you were supposed to be a soldier.”

“Just because I’m trained to sleep anywhere doesn’t mean I want to sleep anywhere,” Rhodey shot back. After stretching he finally got to his feet. “What’s for breakfast?”

“Pancakes?” Alina said hopefully.

“Do I look like I know how to make pancakes?” Rhodey asked.

“What  _ do  _ you know how to make?”

He considered this. “I know how to make scrambled eggs, I think.”

“Fine,” she said, hopping up. “I’ll help.”

Together, they managed to make a batch of scrambled eggs that were only a little burnt. And they only dropped one- well, maybe two- eggs on the ground. As they sat down to eat, Alina asked, “Any updates on the mission?”

Rhodey checked his phone. “They have a plan and will be gone until further notice.” Both the girl and man frowned. “I have a meeting at 10:30,” Rhodey said, glancing at the clock. “It’s almost nine right now. I don’t know what I’ll do with you if they’re not back by then.”

“I can stay home alone,” Alina sighed.

“No you can’t,” Rhodey replied immediately. He looked down on his phone. “Bruce is headed back here and the others will be back soon. Perfect.”

“Perfect,” she grumbled.

Rhodey left soon after, and Alina spent the morning playing with her American Girl Doll while waiting in the hallway outside the hangar. When Bruce walked in, she jumped to her feet.

“What happened? What are you going to do in the lab? Where is everyone else?” She bombarded him with questions, but Bruce hurried past her.

“Not now,” he said distractedly, closing the door in her face. 

Alina hugged the doll and sank to the floor outside the lab, leaning against the glass walls. “Fine,” she muttered. “I can wait.”

About five minutes later, Tony rushed in. He, too, barely spared her a glance. Feeling slightly worried, Alina pulled up the news feed on her phone.

“...Captain America, Black Widow, and two unidentified enhanced individuals spotted battling what seem to be robots…” She watched the footage, which seemed to be taken by a cell phone camera, of Steve slamming his shield into one of Ultron’s bots. The person holding the camera screamed as a piece of metal came flying at them and the footage became shaky before cutting off. Alina squeezed the doll tighter and continued to watch the news reports nervously as they rolled in.

Suddenly there was a bang and the hangar doors flew open. Clint came rushing in, pushing what looked like a glowing casket. He pushed it into the lab and Alina, this time without waiting for permission, slipped inside after him.

“What’s that?” she asked. 

“You shouldn’t be in here,” Clint said distractedly. He and Bruce were fiddling with the box, and Tony was nowhere in sight.

“Where’s Nat?” Alina asked, ignoring him. “Steve and those other two are on the news, but where’s Natasha?”

Bruce and Clint exchanged glances, but before Alina could say anything else, the doors opened again and Tony entered.

“Anything on Nat?” Bruce asked, finally looking up from the box and approaching Tony.

“I haven’t heard,” Tony replied. “But she’s alive, or Ultron would be rubbing our faces in it.”

“What do you mean ‘she’s alive’?” Alina asked, her voice getting higher. “Why wouldn’t she be?”

Tony finally looked at Alina. “Ultron got her.” Alina stared at him. Nat was captured? No, no that couldn’t be right. No one could get Natasha Romanoff; she was the best, she had said it herself.

“She’s strong,” Tony said, hugging Alina. He bent down and stared her in the eyes. “We’ll get her back, got it Li-Li?” Alina nodded, not trusting herself to speak.

“This is sealed tight,” Clint said, hopping off the box and effectively changing the subject.

Bruce and Tony both turned their attention back to the box. “We’re gonna need to access the program, break it down from within,” Bruce said. 

“Any chance Natasha might leave you a message outside the Internet?” Tony asked Clint. “Old-school spy stuff?”

“There are some nets I can cast,” Clint replied. “Yeah, I’ll find her.” He disappeared down the stairs.

“I can work on tissue degeneration,” Bruce said. “If you could fry whatever operational system Cho implanted.”

“Yeah, about that,” Tony said. Bruce looked up at him, and they seemed to have a silent conversation.

“No,” Bruce said. 

“No what?” Alina asked.

“You have to trust me,” Tony started, approaching the scientist.

“Kind of don’t,” Bruce said, backing away.

“Our ally, the guy protecting the military’s nuclear codes,” Tony said. He flicked his remote behind him, and the swirling orange mass that Alina recognized as JARVIS appeared. “I found him.”

“Hello, Dr. Banner,” JARVIS said.

“JARVIS!” Alina cried happily. At least she got one friend back.

“Hello, Alina,” the AI said, and Alina got the feeling that if he could smile, he would be.

“Ultron didn’t go after JARVIS because he was angry,” Tony explained. “He attacked him because he was scared of what he can do.” Bruce looked at Tony. “So JARVIS went underground,” the billionaire continued. “Scattered, dumped his memory. But not his protocols. He didn’t even know he was in there until I pieced him together.”

Bruce scoffed. “So, you want  _ me  _ to help  _ you _ put  _ JARVIS _ into this thing?” Bruce asked incredulously. 

“No!” Tony said. “Of course not. I wanna help  _ you  _ put JARVIS into this thing.”

Bruce shook his head, and Tony smiled. “We’re out of my field here. You know bio-organics better than anyone.”

Alina’s mind wandered and she glanced back at the news feed on her phone. There was nothing new about Captain America, Ultron, the Avengers, or anything else. She held up her doll and smoothed the hair worriedly. Natasha would be ok. Clint would find her. 

Bruce and Tony started doing their science thing, talking about things that even her genius mind couldn’t understand. She vaguely understood that Ultron had been created by them, and it had gone wrong. She also understood that they were trying again. The rest of the team would be mad, but it was simple. Alina trusted Tony.

Suddenly, she heard footsteps and she glanced up from her place on the floor. Steve was standing there, with the two new people she had seen on the news behind him. They looked younger in person. There was a girl with long brown hair and a slightly scared look, clutching the blonde boy whose face was decorated with light brown scruff. Alina wondered if they were siblings.

“I’m gonna say this once,” Steve said.

“How about none-ce?” Tony shot back.

“Shut it down!” Steve yelled.

“Nope, not gonna happen,” Tony snapped. Steve and the other two stepped forward, and Alina shrank back. She didn’t want everyone to fight again.

“You don’t know what you’re doing,” Steve said, trying to calm himself.

“And you do?” Bruce finally spoke up. “She’s not in your head?” He gestured to the girl.

“I know you’re angry,” the girl spoke up, stepping forward. Her accent seemed Russian, maybe. 

“Oh, we’re way past that,” Bruce said calmly. “I could choke the life out of you and never change a shade.”

“Banner, after everything that happened-” Steve started.

“It’s nothing compared to what’s coming!” Tony interrupted. 

“You don’t know what’s in there!” The girl yelled.

“This isn’t a game,” Steve said. Everyone started yelling at once, and Alina dropped the doll on her lap to clap both hands over her ears. She squeezed her eyes shut.

Suddenly, there was a loud clanging. Alina opened her eyes to see the boy standing next to Bruce, holding a tube of some sort.

“No, no, go on,” he said as the box made whirring noises. “You were saying?” 

A gunshot rang out, and Alina watched as the floor collapsed beneath the boy. “Pietro!” The girl screamed. Peering out, Alina saw Clint with the boy. Neither seemed hurt. 

Then the box started clanging and beeping. “I’m re-routing the upload,” Tony said, rushing over to one of his machines. Steve threw his shield and it bounced off of things, almost hitting Tony, who ducked just in time. Tony summoned his Iron Man glove and blasted Steve. Alina curled into a ball, hands back over her ears and eyes back to being shut. She heard shouts and banging, but still didn’t open her eyes. Suddenly, she was six years old and the city was falling apart as she ran the streets, crying and screaming for her parents and buildings collapsed and people fled in terror.

Then, faintly, she heard a crackling noise. Opening her eyes, she saw Thor standing on the box, lightning flowing through his hammer and into it. He pulled his hammer back and the lightning stopped. Everyone watched silently, their expressions ranging from shocked to terrified.

Then the box exploded.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Poor Alina. Apparently, when there's a threat the Avenger's parenting skills go out the window.


	12. The Vision: Alina

Standing on top of the box was a man. Well, sort of a man. It was man-shaped, but its skin was red and entwined with plates of metal. It looked like a cross between a human and on of the Iron Legion suits.

The thing stood up, looking down at its body in shock. It looked around the room confusedly, and Alina saw a glowing orange stone in the middle of its forehead.

Suddenly, it flew at Thor. Thor tossed it aside, and it flew through the glass window and down into the lounge with a crash. Before it could hit the ground, it stopped in midair. It was  _ flying _ .

Steve, Tony, and the girl dropped into their fighting stances, but Thor held up a hand to stop them. Everyone seemed to collectively hold their breath as the flying man stared at the window.

Thor set his hammer down and everyone unfroze. They crept down the stairs, Pietro flying down in a blur. Alina snuck down with them, hiding halfway up the staircase.

“I’m sorry. That was...odd,” it said. Its voice seemed familiar for some reason. “Thank you.” A suit of some sort formed seemingly out of thin air to cover its body, and a cape draped off its back.

“Thor,” Steve said. “You helped create this?”

“I had a vision,” Thor explained. “A whirlpool that sucks in all hope of life, and its center is that.” He pointed to the orange stone on the man’s forehead.

“What? The gem?” Bruce asked.

“It’s the mind stone,” Thor said. “It’s one of the of the six Infinity Stones. The greatest power in the universe, unparalleled in its destructive capabilities.”

“Then why would you bring-” Steve started.

“Because Stark is right,” Thor cut him off. 

“Oh, it’s definitely the end times,” Bruce commented.

“The Avengers cannot defeat Ultron. Not alone.”

“Why does your vision sound like JARVIS?” Steve asked, and Alina realized why the voice sounded familiar.

“We reconfigured JARVIS’s matrix,” Tony said, walking forward. “To create something new.”

“I think I’ve had my fill of new,” Steve said.

“You think I’m a child of Ultron,” the man finally spoke. 

“You’re not?”

“I”m not Ultron,” it said. “I am not JARVIS. I am…” it paused, deep in thought. “I am.”

“I looked in your head,” the new girl accused. “And saw annihilation.”

“Look again,” it said.

Clint scoffed, crossing the room. “Her seal of approval means jack to me.”

“Their powers, the horrors in our heads,” Thor said. “ _ Ultron himself _ , they all came from the Mind Stone. And they’re nothing compared to what it can unleash. But with it on our side-”

“Is it?” Steve asked. He turned to look at the man. “Are you?” Everyone stared at him warily. “On our side?”

“I don’t think it’s that simple,” the thing said.

“Well it better get real simple real soon,” Clint threatened.

“I am on the side of life,” it explained, looking at each one of them in turn. “Ultron isn’t. He will end it all.”

“What’s he waiting for?” Tony asked.

“You.”

“Where?” Bruce asked.

“Sokovia,” Clint said. “He’s got Nat there too.” Alina, who had been listening intently, straightened up at the mention of Natasha.

Bruce stepped forward, studying the thing’s face. “If we’re wrong about you,” he said. “If you’re the monster Ultron made you to be…”

“What will you do?” It asked. Bruce looked as if he was about to say something, then stopped.

“I don’t want to kill Ultron,” it said. “He’s unique and he’s in pain. But that pain will roll over the Earth. So, he must be destroyed. Every form he’s built, every trace of his presence on the net. We have to act now. And not one of us can do it without the others.” The team looked uneasily at each other, but Alina guessed that they would work together whether they liked it or not. She had to give it to the thing, it made a convincing argument.

“Maybe I am a monster,” it continued, looking down at its hands. “I don’t think I’d know if I were one. I’m not what you are, and not what you intended,” it paused. “So, there may be no way to make you trust me. But we need to go.” It handed Thor his hammer.

Wait.  _ It handed Thor his hammer _ . The thing could pick up Thor’s hammer? Weren’t...weren’t only those worthy of ruling Asgard, or something like that, able to pick it up? That meant this thing was good, right?

The team stared at the thing in equal amounts of shock. Thor took the hammer, staring at it in confusion. They all exchanged glances as the thing walked out of the room, expecting them to follow it. Finally, Thor spoke. “Right,” he said. He patted Tony on the back. “Well done.” Then he followed the strange man out of the room.

“Three minutes,” Steve said. “Get what you need.” Everyone scattered. 

She thought she had been forgotten when Steve called, “Alina!”

“Guess I’m staying home alone,” she said glumly, squeezing her doll. Steve walked up the stairs to where she was sitting.

“I think I know a place you can go,” he said. “You’ll like it there.”

“Where?” she asked. She wracked her brain, trying to figure out what Steve was talking about.

“Go pack a bag for overnight,” the soldier instructed. “I need to go to talk to Clint.”

Still trying to figure out what Steve was talking about, she headed up to her room. She was walking down the hallway when a girl’s voice said, “That’s a pretty doll.”

Alina turned to see the super-powered girl and her brother. Pietro, Alina remembered, but she didn’t know the girl’s name. “Thanks,” she said. “It’s supposed to look like me.”

“You’re very pretty too,” the girl said.

“So are you,” Alina responded shyly, which was unusual for her. With one last glance at the girl, she started down the hallway. “Wait,” she stopped. “What’s your name? I’m Alina.”

“Wanda,” the girl said, smiling at her. “I’m Wanda.” Alina grinned back, then turned and dashed toward the stairs.

* * *

  
  


After hurriedly stuffing some clothes into her backpack, Alina hurried back downstairs. She headed for the hangar, knowing that’s where everyone would be.

“You’re coming with us on the jet,” Steve said. “We’ll drop you off on the way to Sokovia.”

“The jet!” Alina squealed. She loved riding on it.

“Hurry up, Curly,” Tony said, not looking up from the panel of the jet. She bounced in excitedly.

“Wait, where am I going?” She asked.

“Come over here,” Clint said. “You can sit by me.” She went over and sat next to him, slinging her bag to the floor.

“Where am I going?” She asked again.

Clint took a breath. “You’re going to my house.”

“Your house?” she asked confusedly. “You have a house?”

“Of course I have a house,” he laughed. “Where do you think I go when I’m not at the tower?”

“I don’t know,” she answered. “Secret spy missions?”

“Maybe that too,” Clint smirked. “But I also have a house. You’re going to stay with my wife.”

“Your  _ wife _ ?” Alina shrieked. Tony laughed.

“My wife and my kids.” While Alina was still processing  _ wife  _ and  _ kids _ , he pulled out a picture. There was a smiling little girl with her brown hair pulled into pigtails, an older boy with the same hair and an awkward smile, and a pretty woman hugging them both.

“That’s Laura,” Clint said, pointing to the woman. “That’s Cooper, he just turned nine, and Lila. She’s five. And soon we’ll have another one, Nathaniel.”

Alina looked at Clint’s smiling face. “Does the team know about them?”

Tony made an annoyed sound, and Clint smirked. “Since yesterday. Except Nat, but she’s been my best friend for years, so she doesn’t count.” The smile slipped off his face at the mention of his missing best friend.

“You’ll save her,” Alina said, hugging Clint. “That’s what you do. You save people.” He squeezed her back.

“We’re here,” Tony called. “Time to kick the munchkin out.” She scrunched up her face at him.

“We’ll be back tomorrow,” Steve told her as she stepped out of the jet.

“After you kick Ultron’s metal ass,” Alina smiled.

“Alina,” Steve said warningly, but he was smiling.

“That’s my girl,” Tony said.

A hand appeared on her shoulder, and Alina looked up to see Laura smiling at her. “I’ll take care of her,” she said, staring at Clint.

“Love you!” Alina called as the ramp folded up and the jet took off. “Stay safe,” she whispered so Laura couldn’t hear her. “Come home.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another shout out to my sister (good this time) for helping me figure out words, since I wrote this late at night and my tired brain stopped functioning. That Clint action was for you, and the next chapter with Clint's family is also for you.


	13. The Bartons: Alina

“Kids, this is Alina. Alina, this is Cooper and Lila,” Laura introduced. Alina smiled at the two younger kids. Cooper smiled shyly at her, while Lila was outright grinning.

“Hi!” Lila squealed. “You get to share my room with me!”

“Actually,” Laura said quickly. “Lila is going to sleep with Cooper and you can have Lila’s room.”

“Or you can sleep with me! We have a mattress on the floor for you!”

“I’ll sleep with Lila,” Alina said.

“Are you sure?” Laura asked. “Lila will be ok if you don’t want to…” 

“Oh no, it’s fine. I want to,” she said quickly.

“Yay!” Lila cried. “We can stay up late and you can have my favorite stuffy and I’ll show you all my toys,” she chattered.

“Sounds like fun,” Alina said, the little girl’s enthusiasm catching on. “It’ll be like a sleepover.”

“Yes!” Lila grabbed her hand and led her down the hallway. Alina caught Laura’s eye, who mouthed ‘Sorry’ at her. She laughed.

Lila led her into a room that was painted a pale green. There was a small bed with a purple flowery bedspread, and more flower decals on the wall. On the floor was an air mattress, and Alina set her bag down on it.

“This is Frogger,” Lila said, holding up a squishy frog stuffed animal. “He’s my favorite, but you can have him tonight!”

“Thank you,” Alina said, accepting the toy. It was  _ very _ squishy and soft.

“Now,” Lila said. “Let’s play! Come see my dollhouse!” She ran to the corner of the room where a plastic white dollhouse sat.

Just then, Cooper appeared in the doorway. “No, come see my LEGOs,” he said. 

Privately, Alina thought that she would rather play with LEGOs then a dollhouse. However, she said, “Lila already asked me…” She had never had siblings before, and was unsure how to work out the situation. “But we can play with LEGOs next!”

“I have a better idea,” Laura said, walking up behind Cooper. “Why don’t you all go play outside? You can show Alina the treehouse and the tire swing.”

“Yes!” Lila cried. “Let’s go!” She grabbed Alina’s hand and once again led her through the house. Cooper followed close behind.

The kids showed her around the farm, and Alina loved it. In the city, the only places to play outside were public parks, and she could only go when one of the adults was able to take her. Here, Lila and Cooper had free roam of a huge yard, with a sizable tree house in one tree and a tire swing hanging from another branch. There were trees to climb and fences to walk on. They spent hours running around in the warm sun and Alina found herself forgetting to worry about the dangerous mission the team was on.

Soon it got dark, and Laura called them inside. After a dinner of chicken nuggets-the dinosaur ones-Cooper and Lila begged their mom to let them watch a movie.

“Please, please, please?” Lila pleaded. Cooper tried a different tactect.

“If you make us go to bed this early, Alina is going to think we’re really boring and she’ll never come back,” he reasoned.

“Don’t try that one me,” Laura wagged her finger at Cooper. “Alright, you can watch a movie.” They all cheered.

After much arguing, everyone agreed on  _ Inside Out.  _ In the beginning, everyone was sitting on the couch, but by the end of the movie, Lila was curled up against Alina, asleep, and Cooper was leaning on her other side. As Laura picked the little girl up and carried her to bed, Alina found herself wishing she had siblings.

* * *

  
  


Clint came back around nine the next day. Laura was in the kitchen, cleaning up from breakfast. Alina had offered to help her, but was instead reading a book to Lila. Cooper sat next to them, also reading.

They heard a gasp from the kitchen and all looked up from their books to see Laura, hugging Clint. “Daddy!” Lila cried, rushing toward the archer. Cooper followed close behind.

“Hey kids,” Clint said, hugging them tightly. He smiled, but it didn’t quite reach his eyes. The way his eyes looked sad and haunted reminded Alina of a few years ago, when Tony had sent her to live in Steve’s apartment for a few months, or the time when Steve himself had disappeared for a while. They had both returned looking broken.

Alina wanted to ask what had happened, but was too afraid. Clint looked up at her. “Grab your stuff,” he said. “I’m taking you home.”

After hugging everyone goodbye (“Come back soon,” Lila and Cooper had pleaded, and Laura had told her, “You’re welcome here anytime.”), Alina was sitting in the car next to Clint. They were silent for a few minutes, before Alina dared to ask, “Is everyone ok?”

Clint didn’t look at her. “We got Nat. She’s fine.”

“That’s good,” Alina said. Something had happened, though, she thought. Clint didn’t cheer up a bit at the mention of his best friend.

“Someone…” Clint continued. “Pi-Pietro,” he said, his voice breaking. “He’s dead.”

For a second Alina wondered who Pietro was, but then she remembered the twins. Wanda, who had been so kind to her, and Pietro, who had seemed funny. She hadn’t known him that well, but the fact that someone had  _ died _ , someone she knew, someone who she could have been close to, if he had lived, filled her with a sadness echoing the one she felt when she thought of her parents. 

They drove the rest of the way home in silence.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry this chapter is shorter, but I really should be studying for finals right now. Oops. My last day of school is on Tuesday, though, so I might post a chapter on Wednesday to celebrate!


	14. Aftermath: Alina

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To all my lovely, wonderful readers...  
> I'm so sorry! I am so, so, so sorry for leaving you like this again. I plead that you will forgive me for the awful, horrendous, abhorrent thing I have done. I know the pain that is an unreliable author, and I vow to never go longer than two weeks without updating again (a vow I will most likely break...)  
> To thank you for putting up with me, here is a very fluffy chapter (as always) with a character we have all been waiting for...

About an hour later, Clint pulled up in front of the tower. Alina moved to open the door when Clint put a hand on her shoulder. “Wait,” he said, looking at her. She sat back and looked at him. “Just...try to take care of Wanda for me, okay? I mean, be nice to her, help her get settled, if she needs anything…” he trailed off, tears filling his eyes.

“I will,” Alina promised. She quickly got out of the car, not wanting to be there if Clint started crying.

“Bye, Li-Li,” Clint called after her.

“Bye,” she answered, heading inside.

The ride up the elevator seemed lonely without JARVIS. Alina still missed the AI; it seemed silly, but he had been one of her best friends.

She dumped her stuff in her room and looked around. Home sweet home. She lovingly fiddled with her LEGO models before picking up the doll she had discarded on the bed before she left. Holding it made her feel safe and grounded. She decided to take it with her while she went to look for the rest of the team. Chewing her lip, she peeked into the kitchen, but no one was there. Hearing voices, she followed them down the hall. Sitting around the living room was Tony, Wanda, and...

“Nat!” she cried, rushing over to where the spy was sitting and flinging her arms around her. 

Natasha squeezed her in return. “Hey,  маленький котенок, ” she whispered into Alina’s hair.

“You’re ok.” Alina felt like crying. 

“I’m ok,” Nat confirmed, pulling back and looking into the little girl’s face. “Did you doubt me? I’m insulted,” she joked.

“Never,” Alina sniffled, tears spilling out. She pulled the woman back into another hug.

“What, I don’t get a welcome home hug?” Tony remarked from across the room.

“You didn’t get captured by a scary robot guy,” Alina told him, but she let go of Natasha and ran over to give him an equally big hug.

“I’ll remember to do that next time, if that’s what it takes.” Nat rolled her eyes from across the room, but Alina let go of Tony to stare up at his face.

“Please don’t,” she whispered.

“Noted,” he smiled. “Now, what were we talking about?”

“The new facility,” Nat prompted.

“Yeah, that,” Tony said, picking up a tablet from beside him on the couch. “New Avengers facility upstate,” he explained to Alina. “The team is going to move there. Of course, you’ll still live here at the tower, with me probably. And Pepper and Happy, when they’re home.”

“Why can’t I go with the team?” Alina asked, trying not to sound like she was whining.

“School,” Tony reminded her. “While we’re on that topic, you, Curly, are supposed to be there right now. I’m letting you off today, but tomorrow,” he looked up from the tablet and wagged a finger at her, “You’re heading back to prison.

“Now, Wanda, you’re seventeen? Legally, you also have to be in school. If you’re comfortable with it, you can go to a school here in the city. Alina goes to Midtown School of Science and Technology, it’s a good school and we could enroll you there or at another school of your choosing. Or, if you’re not comfortable with that, I could hire someone to homeschool you. I wasn’t sure how much schooling you’ve had in the past few years, considering...everything, so if you think you’re behind that would probably be the best option. You could live at the campus or here at the tower, and-”

“Tony,” Natasha said gently. “Don’t overwhelm the poor girl.” She placed a protective hand on Wanda’s shoulder. “We don’t have to talk about school until you’re all settled in.”

They all turned to the red-haired girl, who hadn’t said a word. She was staring straight ahead, not making eye contact with any of them. “I would like to live at the campus,” she said quietly, her accent thick. “The city is crowded.”

“Okay,” Tony said, typing something into his tablet. “We’re all going to be moving everything this week. Do you have any...anything?”

“I have few possessions,” Wanda said. “They are all in my bag.”

“You know what that means,” Natasha wiggled her eyebrows at Alina, who smiled. “Shopping trip.”

“Ooh, can I come?” Alina pleaded.

“Sorry,  маленький котенок,  we’re probably going tomorrow.” Alina stuck her lip out in a pout.

“Perfect, you can take her tomorrow and we’ll make a trip up to the facility,” Tony said. “Well, now that that’s settled and Pepper can’t call me disorganized, I’ll be in the lab if anyone needs me.” He ruffled Alina’s hair and left the room.

“If we’re making a trip to the facility tomorrow, I better pack some things up,” Natasha said. “Either of you are welcome to come sit in my room,” she looked at Alina and down at Wanda.

Alina shook her head, and Wanda said, “No thank you.” Nat nodded at them and also left.

Alina sat awkwardly, clutching her doll. Wanda, across from her, didn’t say anything either. Though she was usually talkative, Alina was at loss for what to say to the older girl.

“I do like that doll,” Wanda said. Alina jerked her head up to see her smiling. “I used to have a special doll when I was a girl. My mother and I would sew clothes for it together. I wasn’t very good, but whatever I wanted, she would make. Tiny dresses and even a denim jacket with intricate sewing…” Alina noted with alarm that tears were falling down Wanda’s face.

“I have some other doll clothes,” she said hurriedly. “I mean, I bought them from a store so they aren’t as special, but there’s this one sparkly dress that’s really pretty. I could show you?” 

Wanda wiped her eyes, looking up at Alina gratefully. “I would like that.”

Alina hopped up excitedly. “My room’s this way!” She led Wanda down the hallway. “Did they give you a tour of the tower yet?”

“Clint gave me one, but he just covered the basics. I would like to hear about everything from you,” Wanda said.

“Well, this is the hallway with everyone’s bedrooms. If you live at the new facility, you probably will just stay in a guest room this week. Maybe you can stay in my room! I have a bunk bed!” Alina stopped. “I mean, only if you want to.”

“Maybe one night I could stay with you,” Wanda said hesitantly.

“Well, if you want to you’re always welcome. Anyway, here’s my room.” Alina flung the door open, scanning the room. There were a few stray clothes strung across the floor, and her LEGO table was a mess. And her desk… well, the less said about it the better. “Sorry it’s a bit messy.” She rummaged through the doll clothes and accessories she had, which were sitting in a pile next to the untouched bins Pepper had gotten her to organize them. “Pepper always wants me to organize these, but I play with them and they get messy, so what’s the point of putting them away in the first place!”

Wanda laughed, sitting down next to Alina. “Maybe I can help you with that another day.”

“Ok, but- oh! Here’s the dress!” Alina held up a sparkly purple party dress. “And I like these shoes with it.” She got to work undressing and redressing her doll. “See?”

“Very nice,” Wanda said, rummaging through the clothes. “Here, may I try this outfit?” Alina handed her the doll. She dressed it in black leggings, a striped rainbow shirt, and a denim jacket. “Do you have a brush for her hair?”

“Here,” Alina picked it up off the floor. Wanda set to work brushing the doll’s hair. 

“You’re good at this!” Alina commented. “She looks pretty.”

“Thank you,” Wanda said, blushing. “Hmm, what kind of hair ties or bows do you have?” Alina jumped up to get supplies from the bathroom.

Time flew away from the girls as they debated different clothes or laughed as they tried the funniest hairstyles they could think of. For a little while, both girls forgot about the events of the past few days.


	15. Christmas Eve: Alina

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> At this point I'm done apologizing for taking so long to update. If you can't tell, I mostly update when I want.
> 
> Not gonna lie, I was ready to abandon this fic (for like the fifth time). But then something happened, and I got back into it, so here's another chapter. I did plan out the rest of this fic, but who knows if I'll actually write it or not. I have a love-hate relationship with it, and though outlining should help I have no clue what's going to happen. But hey, that means each chapter is good! It's something to celebrate! I expected to stop, and I didn't, so it's not BAD that I took so long, it's GOOD that i actually wrote something!!!
> 
> Look at me, thinking positive things! My mother would be so proud if she saw, which she never ever ever will as long as I'm alive!

“Will Steve be here soon?” Alina asked impatiently. She was sprawled across a cushy chair in the living room of the compound, distractedly fiddling with the LEGO bricks in her hands.

“I don’t know,” Natasha said, turning the page of her book. “And I’ve told you that twice already.”

It was Christmas Eve. Alina, Natasha, and Wanda were scattered around the living room, watching the movie  _ The Polar Express.  _ Tony, and Vision were in the kitchen, arguing about how to cook dinner. Steve was at a Christmas party with Sam’s family, having left a few hours before around four. It was almost seven now, and Alina was worried Steve wouldn’t make it back in time for their Christmas tradition of drinking hot chocolate while Steve read  _ The Night Before Christmas _ .

Vision’s voice floated out from the kitchen. “All I am saying is that turkey is generally a Thanksgiving dish, while ham is traditionally eaten on Christmas or Christmas Eve…”

“Turkey can be eaten on Christmas too!” Tony argued. “Haven’t you ever seen  _ Christmas Vacation _ ?” 

“I am a computer,” Vision reminded him, “I have access to every movie ever made. And if we are using traditional Christmas movies as our arguments, then I will counter you with  _ Christmas With the Kranks _ .”

“Oh for the love of-” Alina and Wanda exchanged smirks at Tony’s frustrated grumbles. Since the days of Ultron’s attack, Vision had begun to fit in well with the rest of the Avengers. Though he didn’t exactly need a lesson in pop culture, seeing as he was a computer, Wanda and Alina had taken it upon themselves to teach him when these references were to be used. They were also determined to show him every movie, saying that it was a different experience watching a movie with friends then remembering it in your computer brain. Vision argued that there actually was no difference, as he had access to every opinion and anyone had ever posted on the internet, but he watched the movies with them anyway.

“The  _ turkey _ is ready,” Tony called from the kitchen. Alina could practically hear the glare he was probably shooting Vision.

“We can’t eat without Steve!” Alina protested.

“Actually, Steve said that we could start without him if he wasn’t back yet,” Wanda pointed out. 

Alina pouted at her. “You’re supposed to be on my side!”

Wanda smirked. “Sorry, little sister.”

This was also something new. Wanda had come to the science fair at Alina’s school that fall. Alina had referred to Wanda as her older sister, and she had been afraid that the older girl would be upset. Instead, Wanda had laughed and ruffled her hair and said, “I’d be glad to be your sister.” Alina had never had a sibling before, and she found that she liked it, a lot.

“I cross-referenced over a thousand sources, and Stark and I have put together what should be a perfect classic Christmas dinner,” Vision announced. “Well, except for the turkey.”

“It looks great, Vis,” Wanda said, smiling at him as she sait down. The metal man smiled back, and Alina guessed that if he had been able to he would have been blushing. She nudged Wanda and raised her eyebrows suggestively. Wanda kicked her under the table.

They all settled down around the food-laden table. There was sweet potato casserole and mashed potatoes, seasoned asparagus and buttery corn, soft red cranberry sauce and fluffy brown rolls. At the center of it all was a large, golden turkey.

Natasha and Tony passed a bottle of wine, while Wanda and Alina got sparkling grape juice. Wanda used her powers to switch hers out for wine when no one else was looking. “I’m basically old enough,” she hissed at Alina.

Plates heaped full of food, they had barely started eating when a voice came from the doorway. “I hope I’m not late,” Steve called. “And I hope it doesn’t matter that I brought an extra guest.”

“Finally!” Alina grinned. Steve smiled back at her. Sam trailed behind him, carrying a circular box. He caught her staring at it. 

“My mom sent a pie,” he said, holding it up.

“I don’t know if we’ll be able to make room for another person,” Nat smirked. “Sorry, come back later.”

“Oh ha ha, Romanoff,” Steve said. 

Sam smirked right back at her. “Call it payback for all the times you’ve crashed at my house.”

“We have plenty of room,” Vision said, standing up. “I’ll get another table setting.”

“Table settings,” Sam said, looking down. “Fancy.”

“Don’t look at me,” Tony said. “Vision was all for a ‘traditional Christmas dinner’. Though I don’t why, seeing as he can’t eat. He got out my mom’s old dishes.”

Vision floated back in, carrying a plate stacked with a napkin, glass, and silverware. Sam and Steve took a seat at the table, and food was passed around once more. Soon there was a happy buzz about the room.

“Pepper coming?” Steve asked Tony conversationally. 

“She’s flying in right now,” Tony said. “Should be getting here soon. Rhodes is with his parents; he’ll come over tomorrow.”

“What presents are you hoping to get?” Sam asked Alina from the other side of the table, his mouth half full.

“Well, there’s this new musical called  _ Hamilton _ -” Alina started excitedly.

“ _ Alexander Hamilton _ ,” Wanda sang.

“ _ My name is Alexander Hamilton _ ,” they sang together, grinning. “ _ And there’s a million things I haven’t done, but just you wait. Just yooooou wait! _ ” Everyone else stared at them, and Wanda blushed.

“They’ve been obsessed with this musical for like a month,” Nat said.

“I bet  _ I  _ know all the words to it,” Tony added. He turned back to Steve, “Like I was saying…” They went back to their individual conversations.

“Santa only comes if you’re good,” Wanda teased. “So you can look forward to getting no presents.”

“I know Santa isn’t real,” Alina huffed, crossing her arms. Sam suddenly looked guilty, and Nat started to laugh.

“She’s smart,” Sam muttered. “She would have figured out that one guy can’t fly around the world in a night, anyway.”

“She lives with a bunch of superheroes,” Nat pointed out. 

“I wonder if I could fly around the world in that amount of time,” Vision wondered. “If you factor in time zones…” 

“What’s the story here?” Wanda asked, looking from Sam to Alina curiously.

“Has anyone noticed that this turkey is a bit chewy?” Sam asked, loudly ignoring the question.

“It was made by a computer and an idiot who both think they’re right,” Nat said.

“I’m wounded,” Tony chimed in from across the table, clutching his chest dramatically.

“I could do it!” Vision loudly announced, looking pleased with himself.

“Do what, exactly?” Steve asked. Alina caught Wanda’s eye, and they both dissolved into giggles.

* * *

Hours later they were all curled up in the living room again. It was late, and Alina was tired. The adults had been drinking eggnog and she had stolen some earlier. It had made her head fuzzy and she was pretty sure it was making her extra sleepy right now.

“Why don’t you read the book before Alina’s asleep, Steve?” Nat interrupted the current conversation.

“Yes!” Alina cheered, though her enthusiasm was a bit lacking as she could barely keep her eyes open. “We need ho...hot…” she yawned. “Hot chocolate.”

“I’ll go make it,” Sam volunteered. “Come on, Nat.” Natasha protested lightly but followed him into the kitchen.

Alina mustered up enough energy to walk across the room and climb onto Steve’s lap, like she did every year. She snuggled into his arms, yawning again.

“When are you going to get too big for this?” Steve grinned.

“Never,” she replied. She was starting to doze off, and almost asleep, when Nat and Sam returned. 

“Don’t fall asleep on me,” Steve said lightly. Alina accepted a mug and took a sip, savoring the sweetness. Usually the sugar would keep her up for another hour, but this time she wasn’t sure she could even stay awake long enough to finish it.

“You got the book?” Steve asked, and Wanda passed him the book. He took a long drink of his hot chocolate, then flipped the book open and started reading. “Twas the night before Christmas, and all through the house, not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse…”

Alina continued to drink her hot chocolate but after she almost splashed it all over her lap she set it down. Feeling safe and warm and sleepy, Steve’s soothing voice lulled her to sleep.


	16. Merry Christmas: Alina

The next morning, it was early when Alina opened her eyes and yawned tiredly. She had stayed up too late the night before, but she couldn’t exactly remember why. And why was she up so early..?

She suddenly shot up in bed. “Christmas!” she cheered, tearing off the blankets and jumping out of bed. The compound was smaller than the tower and only two stories, with all the living quarters upstairs and “work stuff” downstairs. She dashed into Wanda’s room next door. Since it was her sister’s first Christmas with them, she had not  _ specifically  _ told Alina not to wake her up. Which was a big mistake, as she would soon learn.

“Wake up!” she cried, shaking the older girl awake. “It’s Christmas, wake up!”

“Ugh,” Wanda groaned, rolling over to face her. “What time is it?”

“Six am!” Alina informed her cheerfully. “Come on, come on!”

“Can’t I sleep in?” Wanda asked, shoving a pillow over her head.

“I’m going to find everyone else,” Alina said. “When I get back you better be up, young lady.” Wanda simply groaned again.

Alina skipped back into the hallway, wide awake. Steve and Sam were probably already up, as they were morning people and usually got up to run. Natasha had told Alina not to wake her, but the little girl wasn’t worried, as Nat didn’t usually sleep in very long. Tony was the real problem. Sometimes he didn’t sleep for a week straight and he often had nightmares, so when he did sleep he slept long and hard. Pepper was there, though, so Alina had hope that Tony had gotten a good night’s sleep but would still be persuaded to get out of bed.

Alina banged on their door. Pepper technically had her own room, but it was rarely used. “Wake up!” she yelled. “Come on, come on!” 

There was a shuffling noise inside, and after a minute a messy-haired Pepper cracked the door open. “Give me at least five minutes,” she said, giving a yawn.

“I’ll ask FRIDAY to start making coffee,” Alina decided.

“Sounds good,” Pepper said smiling, before closing the door.

Alina headed toward the kitchen, pausing outside Wanda’s door to bang on it and yell “Hurry up!” As expected, Sam and Steve were both in the kitchen, and had probably already ran a mile or so.

“Want anything specific for breakfast?” Steve asked.

“Cookies!” she replied, grabbing a cut-out cookie that she, Wanda, Steve, and Vision had frosted. They had made a gingerbread version of everyone on the team, and Alina happily bit off cookie-Tony’s head. “FRIDAY, start the coffee maker,” she announced to the AI. The coffee maker whirred as she took a seat next to Sam, bouncing her leg impatiently.

A few minutes later, Wanda and Nat appeared in the doorway. Alina instantly shot up. “Finally! What took you so long? Where’s Tony and Pepper? Are they coming?”

“Slow down,” Nat said, holding out her hands. “The presents will still be there in five minutes.”

“If I have to wait five more minutes, I’ll die,” Alina announced. Then she collapsed dramatically into Wanda, who almost fell over trying to catch her. Everyone else laughed.

After what seemed like an eternity, Tony stumbled, bleary-eyed, into the kitchen and headed straight for the coffee maker. Pepper walked gracefully behind him.

“Yes!” Alina said. “We can get started!” She skipped into the next room, where the big tree they had decorated sat. There was a huge pile of presents of all shapes and sizes piled around it, and stockings hung, bulging, over the fake fireplace.

“Come on!” She bounced over to the stockings, grabbing them down and passing them out as everyone else filed into the room and collapsed onto various furniture. Once the stockings were distributed, Alina dumped hers onto the floor. Out tumbled an assortment of chocolates and candy canes, fancy hot chocolate packets, a few tubes of sparkly lip gloss, a few hair bows, a  _ Hamilton _ keychain, and a pair of  _ Hamilton _ socks. She glanced over at Wanda and grinned when she saw her sister sitting in front of an identical pile. She also saw Sam and Nat were already munching on chocolate, and Steve was unwrapping a candy cane. 

After a minute or so of enjoying their candies, Alina bounced up again to grab the presents under the tree. With the help of Wanda and Pepper, they cleared out the presents under the tree until everyone had a sizable pile in front of them.

“Can we start?” she asked eagerly, shaking a box that she was certain held LEGO bricks.

Pepper and Tony exchanged a glance. “I think there’s one more present we forgot,” Tony said. “Let me see…” Everyone watched as he made a big show of patting his pockets. “Oh, here.” He pulled a shoe-box sized box out from behind him and tossed it to Alina.

Wanda scooted over next to her to look over her shoulder as Alina pulled the lid off of the unwrapped, plain-white box. There were a bunch of sheets of paper on top, and Alina threw them aside to stare at the...bracelets? There were a variety of multicolored bands, each with a circular design in the middle.

“Disney World?” Wanda said. She had started reading the papers and was looking up at Tony. That’s when Alina realized that the design on the bands was a Mickey Mouse shape.

“Disney World!” Alina said, also looking at Tony and Pepper and grinning. “We’re- what-” 

Suddenly Tony’s phone buzzed from beside him. “Oh, it’s for you,” he said without glancing at it. He answered the call and slid the phone across the floor to Alina. Immediately, a bunch of screams came from the other end of the phone. The camera was a blur, like whoever was holding it was waving it around.

“Hold it still, Lila!” A voice said from the other end of the line. The camera stopped on the grinning face of Lila Barton. 

“Alina!” She screamed. “We’re-” She was interrupted by her brother shoving his face into the camera view. He also started screaming, and Alina couldn’t make out the words they were both saying. “...trip...with you…”

“Slow down!” she laughed, holding the phone so both she and Wanda were in the camera’s view.

“We’re going to Disney World with you!” Lila shrieked. From somewhere inside the Barton house came the sound of a baby crying.

Alina looked up at Tony, wide-eyed. “Really?” she also screamed. Pepper smiled at her and Tony gave his usual smug grin. 

She shrieked and jumped up, and Lila seemed to be doing the same on the other end. Wanda was smiling, though she looked a bit confused, and Sam was clutching his ears.

“You got her Disney World tickets?” Steve asked Tony.

“Cap, I got everyone Disney World tickets,” Tony said. “The Bartons, all of us, anyone who wants to go.”

“When?” Natasha asked.

“We leave tomorrow,” Pepper said. Again, Alina screamed and again, Sam clapped his hands over his ears.

More noise came from the phone. “I heard there’s this roller coaster, and it goes really fast, and-” Cooper was chattering excitedly.

“We can meet the princesses!” Lila screamed. The phone was suddenly jerked away and a new face appeared.

“Merry Christmas, Alina!” Laura said.

“Merry Christmas!” Alina laughed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm rethinking how I want this to end because after writing so much I suddenly don't want to cause Alina so much pain.


End file.
